Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (April 22): Former foreign affairs minister Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar has warned that Myanmar is at risk of becoming the first failed state in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) since the bloc’s founding in 1967.

“The impacts of state failure will reverberate beyond Myanmar’s borders and pose a clear and real threat to regional peace and security. It is in the immediate and long-term interest of ASEAN to prevent state failure in Myanmar,” he said in a statement in his role as chairman for the Malaysian Advisory Group on Myanmar.

Syed Hamid, who is also a former OIC special envoy to Myanmar, said ASEAN will need strong and decisive regional leadership and diplomacy to guide Myanmar back to a path of stability, peace and democracy.

This comes as ASEAN countries gear up to address the current crisis in Myanmar at a special summit in Jakarta on Saturday which Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will attend.

The 10-member bloc has been trying to guide Myanmar out of the bloody turmoil triggered by the military coup of Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government on Feb 1.

“Threats posed to ASEAN’s decades-long legacy of regional stability, ASEAN’s credibility is also at stake, given that the coup and conduct of the Tatmadaw are in blatant violation of the ASEAN Charter and the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration,” he said. 

He urged ASEAN to call for an immediate cessation of the violence.

“The safety and protection of the civilian population from Myanmar must be a top priority at the summit,” he said. 

He also said ASEAN must make it clear that it is not conferring legitimacy to the Tatmadaw’s state administration council but is engaging them to find a solution to the crisis.

Through the meeting, it is hoped that ASEAN and the Tatmadaw will be able to create a pause to the tumult and start humanitarian work initiated by UNHCR and international non-governmental organisations in Myanmar, he added.

"An ASEAN Emergency Response Assessment Team needs to be deployed to conduct a rapid needs assessment along the Thai-Myanmar border where tens of thousands are displaced, and for humanitarian assistance to be provided through the United Nations, the Red Cross and humanitarian NGOs (without being instrumentalised by any side). This proposal should include the deployment of civilian monitors from ASEAN countries to ensure that aid is delivered effectively," he said.

Syed Hamid also suggested that a high-level figure from an ASEAN state who can be trusted by both the military and the national unity government of Myanmar be appointed to mediate negotiations between all parties and seek a way out of the crisis.

He also highlighted that ASEAN states need to step up and offer refuge and protection to all those fleeing Myanmar.

“... any refugee problems should be coordinated by the ASEAN Secretariat as shared burden among member states and only as a temporary measure until the crisis is over,” he said.

He added that ASEAN needs to look into the economic recovery of Myanmar by engaging the United Nations and wider international community, including the region’s private sector.

“The protection of civilians and restoration of essential services must be of utmost primacy in these plans,” he added.

According to reports by Reuters, 738 people have been killed by Myanmar security forces since the coup.

Meanwhile, in a video posted on his Twitter account, foreign affairs minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein told reporters: “We hope that with the coming discussions in Jakarta, Myanmar will agree to accept representatives from the ASEAN chair Brunei or the ASEAN secretariat in Jakarta to observe and help Myanmar return to normalcy.”

Edited ByLam Jian Wyn
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