Calls mount for ASEAN action as bloc ‘strongly condemns’ deadly Myanmar airstrike

JAKARTA: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations said it “strongly condemns” an airstrike carried out by the Myanmar military, which killed over 100 people including children, as calls mount for the regional bloc to play a bigger role to resolve the crisis.
The Myanmar Air Force dropped multiple bombs on Pa Zi Gyi village in the central Sagaing region on Tuesday, as military helicopters fired on a gathering attended by mostly civilians. Infants and the elderly were among those killed in the strike.
ASEAN, of which Myanmar is a member, joined the global condemnation on Thursday of the deadliest junta attack since the country’s military coup two years ago.
“ASEAN strongly condemns the reported recent air strikes carried out by the Myanmar Armed Forces in Pa Zi Gyi Village, Kanbalu Township, Sagaing Region of Myanmar, that claimed the lives of at least dozens of civilians,” ASEAN chair Indonesia said in a statement.
It also reiterated ASEAN’s commitment to continue assisting Myanmar in resolving the crisis “through promoting the full implementation of the Five-Point Consensus,” referring to a peace plan agreed to in 2021 to end the violence triggered by the military coup.
“All forms of violence must end immediately, particularly the use of force against civilians,” the statement said.
At least 165 people, including 27 women and 19 children, were killed in the airstrike, the human rights minister of the ousted shadow National Unity Government, Aung Myo Min, wrote on Twitter on Thursday.
Tuesday’s attack came barely a week after Indonesia said diplomatic progress was being made in Myanmar, following continued efforts by the military to crush resistance, including through airstrikes and ground attacks.
Those moves have displaced thousands and killed multiple civilians, including children, with schools, clinics, and hospitals also destroyed.
This week’s airstrike has also put a spotlight on ASEAN’s role in the crisis, as Southeast Asian leaders are set to attend the 2023 ASEAN Summit in Indonesia in May.
“ASEAN leaders must use their upcoming Summit in May 2023 to initiate complementary punitive action,” Myo Min said in another tweet, as he called on the bloc to ban junta representatives from attending all ASEAN meetings.
ASEAN’s role is “important, yet still constrained” when it comes to addressing the conflict in Myanmar, said Dr. Ahmad Rizky Mardhatillah Umar, an Indonesian international relations researcher at the University of Queensland, Australia.
Despite the five-point consensus, ASEAN also has a long-held principle of non-interference, he added.
“ASEAN’s responses to the recent air strike from Tatmadaw (the Myanmar military) shows this dilemma. To date, under Indonesia’s chairmanship, ASEAN has engaged in quiet diplomacy to reach a deal with all parties in the conflict,” Umar told Arab News.
“The next steps from ASEAN in the next ASEAN Summit is an important one to look at in order to achieve a durable solution in Myanmar.”
The Myanmar junta has “clearly ignored” the 2021 agreement with ASEAN, Amnesty International Indonesia said.
“ASEAN must immediately push for new, stronger efforts to put an end to the human rights crisis in Myanmar,” it said in a statement issued on Thursday.
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said ASEAN’s five-point consensus is “on its last legs because of SAC junta intransigency,” referring to the military government.
“Yet the EU, US, Australia and others continue to prop up this straw man because if they didn’t, they would have to come up with their own solution and so far, they are not prepared to do so,” Robertson told Arab News.
“The problem is that simply hoping things will get better, and that the Myanmar military will recognize they need to come to the negotiating table, has gotten ASEAN nowhere.”