Southeast Asian leaders have said they are “deeply concerned” about the violence and deteriorating humanitarian situation in Myanmar, in a statement at the end of the Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur, but significantly held back from further action against a junta that continues to kill civilians four years after it seized power.
The junta has continued deadly air strikes against civilian areas held by ethnic armed groups and pro-democracy forces in the weeks following a devastating earthquake in Sagaing in March that killed more than 3,700, with over 5,100 people injured and about 115 missing according to the UN.
That is despite junta chief Min Aung Hlaing calling a ceasefire – to match several rebel groups – as the country struggles with the immense needs of hundreds of thousands of people displaced from their homes.
This month the junta leader – ostracised by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and banned from its meetings – travelled to Moscow to attend Russia’s Victory Day parade on May 9, standing alongside President Vladimir Putin, and met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the event.
The meetings were interpreted as signs of support for a junta that has lost control of much of the country.
In a joint statement late on Tuesday, the leaders of the 10 Southeast Asian nations reaffirmed the bloc’s backing of a so-called five-point consensus as a road map for resolving Myanmar’s crisis.
