Press Statement: Myanmar civil society calls for ASEAN to move beyond the Five-Point Consensus and end all engagements with the illegal military junta
Ahead of the 44th and 45th Summits of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Vientiane, Laos, the Myanmar National Organizing Committee (Myanmar NOC) for ACSC/APF, comprising 15 civil society organizations, as well as partner organizations and network, participated in the ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN People’s Forum (ACSC/APF) 2024 held on 19 – 21 September 2024 in Dili, Timor-Leste. This year, the delegation of Myanmar NOC and partner organizations and network was most inclusive than ever before, with the participation of Rohingya and LGBTQIA+ representatives.
The conference, hosted by the Timor-Leste National Organizing Committee for ACSC/APF and Forum ONG Timor-Leste (FONGTIL), was attended by over 500 delegates and participants from civil society and people’s movements from across Southeast Asia. Four plenary sessions, 24 convergence space workshops and 11 side events were held.
On 19 September, during the opening session, the Myanmar NOC reported to the conference the dire human rights and humanitarian crisis in Myanmar caused and exacerbated by the military junta, as well as the people’s resolute resistance against the military and building of a new federal democratic Myanmar from the bottom up, despite the junta’s widespread and systematic attacks.
Myanmar in the Plenaries
On 19 September, Yasmin Ullah, Executive Director of Rohingya Maìyafuìnor Collaborative Network (RMCN), a member organization of the Myanmar NOC, spoke on Plenary II: Critical Overview for ASEAN Mechanism. She discussed the failure of ASEAN, especially to protect vulnerable minority communities including the Rohingya, and ASEAN’s ongoing red-carpet treatment of the Myanmar military junta. She further highlighted ASEAN’s failure to coordinate sanctions against the supply chain of aviation fuel, which has continued to embolden the military junta to conduct frequent targeted airstrikes and massacring of civilians.
On 20 September, Zue Padonmar, Secretary 1 of the Interim Executive Council of Karenni State (IEC), and Nurhayati Ali, Director of Health and Human Services at RMCN, spoke on Plenary IV: People and Planet First: Toward a Liberating Southeast Asia. Zue Padonmar discussed the building of bottom-up federal democracy in Karenni State, including the establishment of the people-led Karenni Interim Government, its provision of public services, and its ongoing efforts to encourage public participation in its governance structures. Nurhayati Ali discussed the struggle of the Rohingya, emphasizing that “there will be no liberation in Southeast Asia without the liberation of Rohingya.” She also described the efforts of the Rohingya to reclaim their belonging in their ancestral homeland of Myanmar and in ASEAN, including by reengaging with Rohingya culture and sharing their traditions with the international community.