The National Unity Government (NUG) issued a statement on March 19 urging the ASEAN Chair, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, to effectively address the military junta’s violence in Myanmar. The statement notes that with the international community’s primary focus on Ukraine, ASEAN has an opportunity to take the lead in addressing Myanmar’s worsening crisis. The NUG emphasized that this presents a crucial opportunity for ASEAN to demonstrate regional leadership in handling the deteriorating situation in Myanmar.
Under the leadership of Malaysia as the rotating ASEAN Chair, the organization needs to maintain its commitments to human rights and regional security, according to the NUG statement. The current moment is described as critical for implementing decisive actions that can restore justice and peace for individual Myanmar citizens. The statement emphasizes that this is a crucial time for taking firm steps toward reestablishing fundamental rights and peaceful conditions for the people of Myanmar.
The NUG has called on ASEAN to move beyond the Five-Point Consensus and establish more effective mechanisms that align with the Myanmar people’s aspirations for a sustainable solution. The statement highlighted recent military attacks, including an airstrike on a monastery in Naung Cho, northern Shan State, demonstrating the military council’s systematic targeting of civilians. The NUG reported that the military continues to conduct deliberate attacks against civilian populations.
The statement details ongoing airstrikes by the military council targeting religious buildings and civilian areas in Sagaing, Mandalay, and Magway regions, as well as Shan State, resulting in increasing civilian casualties. The NUG emphasized that these actions constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity that require urgent attention and intervention from ASEAN. The statement calls for immediate and effective measures to address these systematic attacks on civilians and religious sites, highlighting the urgent need for ASEAN to take concrete steps to protect Myanmar’s civilian population from further violence and atrocities committed by the military council.
