The situation in Myanmar remains unresolved following a military coup that took place in February 2021.
This prompted Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) chair Charles Santiago to vent his frustrations at the launch of the final report by the International Parliamentary Inquiry on Myanmar, entitled ‘Time is not on our side’, yesterday.
He, once again, took a swipe at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and its five-point consensus.
“The situation in Myanmar is best described in four letters – N.A.T.O; no action, talk only,” said Santiago.
“There is a consequence when there is no action and there’s just talk. And the ‘talk’ is also weak … no one takes Asean seriously anymore.”
Santiago repeated his view that Asean’s five-point consensus was a failure. He also took issue with a recent statement by Asean, in which its foreign ministers had agreed to seek a consensus before making any decision to address the violence in Myanmar.
“Clearly, Myanmar’s junta has no respect for the five-point consensus and Asean’s special envoy,” said Santiago.
“That clearly shows that Asean is paralysed by internal divisions. Some outrightly support the Myanmar junta, some stand on the sidelines, and some, want change.
“I must take my hat off to the caretaker foreign minister of Malaysia (Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah), who has done a lot of work in meeting with various groups, and putting forward ideas.
“But he (Saifuddin) will not be coming for the next few meetings as we are having a general election in Malaysia. His absence will be felt.”
Santiago also took a swipe at the Asean special envoys who made trips to Myanmar. He said the special envoys would always come up with a one-and-a-half-page report, sarcastically adding “because there is nothing much going on”.
“The first paragraph is always about who they met, how wonderful the food was … okay not the food but (how) the meeting went, shaking hands … and then the critical point is, ‘Yes, we met the general’, ‘Yes, we met the interior minister’,” said Santiago.
“The critical question is, did you meet the NUG (National Unity Government)? That is the requirement in our political dialogue … to meet the NUG … (The special envoy would say) ‘We were not allowed to meet opposition groups because they are all in jail for treason … that’s why we were unable to meet them’.
“This is something the people of Asean and the people of Myanmar have heard since last year, without fail. Every statement (from the special envoys and Asean) is about that.”
Santiago said APHR had asked, why don’t Asean representatives meet officials from the NUG in Bangkok, Phnom Penh, or Kuala Lumpur, but quickly added that “clearly, there’s no response to that question.”
“That tells you that the special envoys themselves do not want a solution to the problem. They are part of the problem.
“That is why the five-point consensus is an unmitigated failure. While the intention is good, the people pushing it are not sincere in the work they are doing.
“It is time Asean recognises that the five-point (consensus) be abandoned, thrown into the rubbish bin, because it’s not working.”
To the suggestion that Malaysia should not be sending refugees back to Myanmar, Santiago added: “There’s something wrong with Malaysia. On one side, we have a foreign minister who is actually talking to the NUG, NUCC (National Unity Consultative Council), and other players. On the other side, you have a home minister (Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin), who is so disrespectful of international agreements.”
He said this was a clear example of members within the government not talking to each other.
“This is where the country needs to have a stronger position, a common position, to move forward,” Santiago.
