At the Jakarta Summit on Saturday, leaders of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed to a five-point consensus on ending Myanmar’s political crisis, including an immediate end to violence. The meeting in Indonesia was chaired by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.
In a statement following the meeting, the body’s chairman announced that leaders had reached a consensus on the following points:
- “First, violence will be immediately ceased in Myanmar and all parties shall exercise utmost restraint.
- Second, constructive dialogue will commence among all concerned parties to seek a peaceful solution in the interests of the people.
- Third, the dialogue process will be facilitated by a special envoy of the ASEAN Chair, with the assistance of the Secretary-General of ASEAN.
- Fourth, ASEAN will provide humanitarian assistance through the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre).
- And fifth, the special envoy and delegation shall visit Myanmar to meet with all parties concerned.”
Participants also agreed to maintain “unity, Centrality, and relevance in the region and to collectively address common challenges” and pledged “adherence to the rule of law, good governance, the principles of democracy and constitutional government, respect for fundamental freedoms, and the promotion and protection of human rights.” The leaders additionally “underscored the importance of Myanmar’s continued efforts in addressing the situation in the Rakhine State, including commencing the repatriation process, in a voluntary, safe and dignified manner in accordance with its bilateral agreements with Bangladesh.”
While the mini-summit saw participation from the ten nations that comprise ASEAN: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, it failed to invite Myanmar’s recently-formed national unity government (NUG), which comprises ethnic minority leaders and politicians from Aung San Suu Kyi’s deposed National League for Democracy (NLD) party. The NUG criticised the multilateral body for not extending an invitation to them and for offering recognition to the Tatmadaw leaders by inviting army chief Min Aung Hlaing, who orchestrated the coup, to the conference.
However, following the summit, the NUG said that it welcomed the “encouraging” news of the consensus and further “looked forward to firm action by ASEAN to follow up on its decisions and to restore our democracy and freedom for our people.” Though the release of high profile prisoners like Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint, or the role of the NUG, was not mentioned at the meeting, it has been speculated that it may have been a compromise to achieve consensus on the five points.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), security forces in Myanmar have killed over 500 people since the military coup began on February 1. The organisation has warned that the actual civilian death toll is probably significantly higher.