The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations has repeatedly called for a halt in hostilities between rebels and the ruling junta that have displaced an estimated 3.5 million people since the military overthrew the elected civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021.
ASEAN's peace proposal that same year, the "Five Point Consensus", which calls for an end to violence and dialogue between warring groups, has made barely any progress, resulting in Myanmar's ruling generals being barred from its summits.
"This is something new that will specifically focus on Myanmar, that they will take no other issue," ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn told Reuters in an interview, referring to the two meetings in Malaysia on Myanmar.
Kao Kim Hourn did not specify the issues up for discussion or if there were new proposals to be made.
He said the first meeting would involve the current, previous and next ASEAN chair nations, namely Malaysia, Laos and the Philippines, respectively. The second gathering would be of the bloc's foreign ministers, he said.
Once seen as a promising frontier market following a decade of economic reform and tentative democracy, the 2021 coup plunged Myanmar into chaos, with the military struggling to govern and battling to contain a widening rebellion by ethnic minority rebels and a pro-democracy resistance movement.
The military has been accused of widespread atrocities, including air strikes on civilian areas, allegations it has rejected as western disinformation.
ASEAN to dedicate two meetings to Myanmar conflict next week
FE Team | Published: May 21, 2025 23:43:00
ASEAN to dedicate two meetings to Myanmar conflict next week
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