Human rights group warns of risks in ASEAN’s re-engagement with Myanmar

ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) has warned that ASEAN’s shift toward “calibrated re-engagement” with Myanmar’s military-appointed government risks normalizing a dictatorship without securing any tangible results for the Myanmar people.

“ASEAN cannot call this progress. What we are witnessing is the normalization of a dictatorship, dressed up as diplomatic language. Five years of impunity have not been met with accountability.

Instead, they have been given a seat at the table,” said Mercy Chriesty Barends, a member of the House of Representatives of Indonesia and chairperson of APHR.

She noted that Myanmar’s Parliament passed a motion calling on the regime to review ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus (5PC) outright just before the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Bangkok on Sunday, which she described as a direct rebuke of ASEAN's framework.

APHR also noted that Singapore's and Malaysia’s public reaffirmations of the 5PC underscore a bloc more divided than united on Myanmar policy.

APHR urged ASEAN to ensure that its diplomatic recalibration does not come at the cost of the accountability and justice Myanmar’s people have been demanding since the coup.

It reiterated that any re-engagement with Naypyidaw must be measured against the key commitments under the 5PC—an immediate end to violence, constructive dialogue among all parties, including pro-democracy groups, and the unimpeded provision of humanitarian assistance.

The statement was issued after ASEAN foreign ministers held a special retreat in Bangkok on Sunday to discuss the situation in Myanmar. During the meeting, the ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the Five-Point Consensus (5PC) while discussing a policy of "calibrated re-engagement" with Myanmar.

Photo: Myanmar Foreign Minister Tin Maung Swe (C)

The retreat also marked the first time Myanmar Foreign Minister Tin Maung Swe had attended an ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting since the 2021 military coup.