ASEAN to stick to Myanmar peace plan despite its failure to stop deadly civil war

Cebu: A plan proposed five years ago by Southeast Asian leaders to end Myanmar’s civil war has failed but could still be used to help restore peace by engaging with leaders who emerge from its recent election, Thailand’s top diplomat said Friday.

The nationwide violence that followed the army’s forcible seizure of power from Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in February 2021 has become one of the biggest challenges and sources of embarrassment for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The 2021 army takeover was met by widespread protests which were violently put down by the army, leading to armed resistance and brutal fighting all over the country.

Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow acknowledged that ASEAN’s “five-point consensus” plan remains unimplemented.

However, he said in an interview with The Associated Press, “It should be a starting point for continued efforts on dialogue, reconciliation and as a part of a broader peace process.”

“We don’t seek to isolate Myanmar,” he said. “We seek to bring Myanmar back to the ASEAN family.”

The members of ASEAN proposed their peace plan in April 2021, largely because they were concerned about regional stability. To put pressure on Myanmar, its military rulers were barred from attending the bloc’s meeting. Among other actions, ASEAN’s plan calls for an immediate end to fighting and hostilities, a dialogue among all contending parties that a special envoy of the bloc would help initiate and the delivery of humanitarian aid. Myanmar’s military government has allowed limited humanitarian aid on its own restrictive terms but ignored or rejected the other points.

If the new incoming leaders would allow the entry of badly needed humanitarian aid, “that’s positive,” said Sihasak.

If there would be moves to deescalate the tensions and violence, “we can re-engage with Myanmar more,” possibly by gradually lifting a restriction on the attendance of its leaders to annual ASEAN meetings, he said.