As leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) wrapped up their two-day summit in the United States yesterday, Amnesty International urged them to focus their attention on the violence and human rights violations taking place in Myanmar.
"The Five-Point Consensus is a failure and did not stop the Myanmar military from perpetrating more human rights violations against the Myanmar people following the 2021 military coup," said Emerlynne Gil, Amnesty International's deputy regional director for research. She was referring to a pact on how to tackle the political crisis the country is facing that was agreed on April 24 last year when Asean leaders met Myanmar's junta chief Min Aung Hlaing in Jakarta.
"Asean must concede that the human rights violations in Myanmar have now become a regional concern. The Myanmar military's violence against its own people has not only made people feel unsafe but it has also led to the deterioration of the country's economy," Ms Gil said.
Thousands of people are now fleeing or attempting to flee to neighbouring countries like Thailand and Malaysia not just to seek safety but also to find work and feed their families, she noted.
She urged Asean to formulate a more detailed blueprint to hold Myanmar's military accountable for its rights violations and address urgent needs. These include committing to non-refoulement of refugees fleeing violence, facilitating desperately needed humanitarian assistance, and adding its voice to calls for a global arms embargo.