Myanmar complains over pariah treatment in ASEAN grouping

Yangon - Myanmar claimed on May 11 that “discriminatory measures” are shutting it out of the ASEAN grouping after a summit last week saw the organisation continue to blacklist the country’s post-coup leadership.

The 11-country ASEAN has shunned Myanmar from summits since the military in 2021 deposed the elected government of Ms Aung San Suu Kyi and detained the democratic figurehead, triggering a civil war.

After five years of martial rule, the junta staged a tightly restricted election excluding Ms Suu Kyi’s party that in April resulted in putsch-leading military chief Min Aung Hlaing taking over as civilian president.

At an ASEAN summit in the Philippines last week, the hosting country’s President Ferdinand Marcos complained there had not been “any progress in Myanmar”.

Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement, claimed that on the contrary, “positive developments taking place in Myanmar have been well recognised by the majority of ASEAN member states”.

“However, it is observed that a few member states continue to maintain restrictions, discriminatory measures, and the exclusion of the Myanmar government from equal representation.”

ASEAN is suffering from a fraying consensus over Myanmar, analysts say, with frustration growing over a lack of progress on the grouping’s peace plan to end the nation’s civil war.

Some countries, such as neighbouring Thailand, congratulated Myanmar’s coup-leader-turned-president Min Aung Hlaing when he was sworn in, pledging to make efforts to stabilise their shared border.

Others have remained aloof about Mr Min Aung Hlaing’s inauguration following an election widely criticised by democracy monitors for cracking down on dissent and not including opposition parties and voters in rebel-held territories.

At the summit in the Philippines, Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said Myanmar was not ready to reclaim a seat at the table because “atrocities towards their own citizens are still occurring”.

Countries including Indonesia and Singapore – which will take the grouping’s rotating chair in 2027 – are widely believed to side with Malaysia.

But Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry said “non-constructive engagement with the new government of Myanmar” would “disregard the genuine will of the Myanmar people, who exercised their democratic rights”.

“Over the past five years, despite facing unequal treatment arising from the positions of certain ASEAN member states, Myanmar has exercised patience,” it added.

While it did not name specific countries, it also accused some nations of “interfering in Myanmar’s internal affairs through criticism and pressure”.

Myanmar has used similar language to criticise Timor-Leste, the grouping’s newest member, after a Dili court opened a case against Mr Min Aung Hlaing for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Rights activists in Muslim-majority Indonesia have also filed a complaint with their country’s attorney-general, accusing the junta he led of atrocities including genocide against the Rohingya minority. AFP