KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah (pix) has reiterated on the need for a concerted Asean-wide solution to the current situation in Myanmar.
Saifuddin stated this in his opening address at the Second Regional Dialogue on Human Rights and Democratisation in Myanmar hosted by Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) on Thursday.
“There is growing international concern on the situation in Myanmar. On Wednesday, 99 CSOs (civil society organisations) and 15 individuals submitted a memorandum to the UN Secretary-General for him to lead a high-level effort to address the crisis,” he said in his Facebook posting.
In June, Saifuddin said the UN passed a resolution urging the junta to respect the results of Myanmar’s November 2020 election, and earlier in February the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution on the human rights implications of the crisis.
For Asean, Saifuddin suggested that all stakeholders - politicians, academia, activists and officials - should do some soul-searching on the possibility for the grouping to move away from the principle of non-interference, towards an innovated “constructive engagement” or “non-indifference”.
Since the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi was overthrown by Myanmar’s military led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on Feb 1, there has been internal unrest with nearly 1,000 civilians killed by security forces.
In April, Asean came up with the Five-Point Consensus to help resolve the conflict in Myanmar but hardly any progress has been made so far. — Bernama
