Human rights groups have strongly criticized ASEAN’s silence on the military council’s brutal war crimes, including the bombing of a school in Oat Tin Kwin village, Sagaing Region, which killed over 20 children and students. Justice for Myanmar (JFM) has pointed out that ASEAN’s five-point consensus on Myanmar serves merely as a cover for ASEAN’s failure to take action against the Myanmar military council, while some ASEAN member states and their associated business tycoons continue to facilitate the flow of weapons and military equipment to the Myanmar military junta.
JFM has explicitly stated that ASEAN cannot claim to be supporting peace in Myanmar as long as wealthy ASEAN business leaders continue to support the military group and the military junta’s brutal violence continues to threaten the lives of children. Fortify Rights has also urged ASEAN member states to abandon their current approach of turning a blind eye to the military council’s atrocities and take practical action to end the military council’s war crimes.
Human rights organizations have suggested that Malaysia, the current ASEAN chair, should implement emergency measures to prohibit regional organizations from selling aviation fuel to the Myanmar military. They particularly emphasized that Malaysia should propose emergency measures to protect Myanmar civilians at the upcoming ASEAN summit at the end of May. The Defend Myanmar Democracy (DMD) group has also warned that it is time for ASEAN to stop shaking hands with the blood-stained military group. The groups maintain that ASEAN’s diplomatic space regarding Myanmar should be reserved for the legitimate representatives of the Myanmar people, not for the illegal terrorist military regime, and have called for ASEAN to invite the National Unity Government, the legitimate government of the Myanmar people, to their meetings.
