The Association of Southeast Asian Complicity

The latest ASEAN Summit held in Malaysia—the current chair—has produced the same tired outcomes, a statement of concern and a determination to cling on to its failed Five-Point Consensus (5PC) approach. Rather than listening to the people’s voices and their legitimate representatives, ASEAN continues to wrongfully see the military junta as central to the solution, and its ongoing attempt to reestablish full engagement is only deepening its complicity. What’s worse is that its economic and military ties are aiding and abetting the junta’s atrocity crimes. This is despite the junta’s lies, extreme violence against civilians, its total disregard of ASEAN and the bloc’s 5PC, and its obstinate, continuing attempts to legitimize its coup attempt while it teeters on the brink of collapse.

Ahead of the latest summit, 285 Myanmar civil society organizations urged Malaysia, as the current chair, “to reject the path of hypocrisy and complicity, and instead chart a course grounded in humanity, solidarity, and respect for the rights and dignity of the Myanmar people.” Despite the focus of the summit being on Myanmar, there were no pragmatic concrete steps, measures, or actions decided on by ASEAN leaders. The most headline-grabbing step is that the Special Envoy position is to be made permanent—it has previously changed country on a yearly basis to align with the rotating chair. Meanwhile, the mandate and functions of the troika group set up two years ago consisting of the former, current, and incoming chairs are still unclear.

Worryingly, the summit statement reiterated “that the Five-Point Consensus remains the main reference to address the political crisis in Myanmar.” Yet while the world continues to put ASEAN at the forefront of resolving the Myanmar crisis, ASEAN remains a paper tiger. Over four years since ASEAN agreed upon its 5PC regarding Myanmar, not only has no progress been made, but the junta is making a mockery of the agreement. Its litany of war crimes and crimes against humanity and its total refusal to stop its violence no matter how much ASEAN remains committed to the 5PC shows how little the junta cares about what is clearly a failed approach. Not only has it failed, but it provides political and diplomatic cover—both for the junta, and for the broader international community to hide behind to absolve itself of taking concrete action. As Khin Ohmar, Chairperson of Progressive Voice notes in a Jakarta Post op-ed, this was a critical moment for the 2025 Chair—Malaysia—to rescue some form of credibility for ASEAN. It has clearly failed.

In a demonstration of the junta’s deceit and its unwillingness to remotely consider ending its campaign of terror against civilians, since its ceasefire declaration on 2 April—following the ceasefire declarations by the National Unity Government (NUG) and some Ethnic Resistance Organizations (EROs)—the junta launched airstrikes last month against a school run by the NUG in Depayin Township, Sagaing Region, killing 22 children and two teachers. This is not the only devastating series of airstrikes—DVB has documented 718 air and artillery strikes since its ceasefire declaration—although certainly one of the cruellest. Another example is the bombing of a village clinic in Magwe Region, killing 11 civilians including the clinic’s head doctor and his pregnant wife who was working there as a nurse. Just one day before the ASEAN leaders were about to convene their summit, a junta airstrike on a wedding in Kyaukkyi, Bago Region, killed 10 people, including the bride. ASEAN Summit statement made no mention of the junta’s repeated airstrikes, but rather noted its appreciation of the declaration of a ceasefire.

However, it is not just diplomatic inertia that is providing cover for the Myanmar junta. A report by Justice For Myanmar reveals the deep business ties between ASEAN companies and the junta. They list 138 companies, some of which are state-owned, that provide revenue, aviation fuel and communications technology to the junta, forming “networks of corporate complicity.” Such complicity funds and actively aids the junta’s violence, and without cutting such economic ties, ASEAN’s leadership and its efforts will always be undermined.

ASEAN’s statement iterates its “aim of achieving a durable peaceful resolution to the crisis that is Myanmar-owned and Myanmar-led” yet also calls on dialogue with the junta as part of this resolution. This is the crux of the matter: The Myanmar military is not a good-faith partner in any peaceful democratic future for Myanmar. It is clear that the only way the military will end its violence is the victory of the people’s revolution. Unless ASEAN and the broader international community step up their support for the revolution, the school bombings such as that in Sagaing will continue as the junta lashes out and punishes civilian populations.

ASEAN is not without options. A clear set of principles and actionable steps forward have been laid out by Myanmar civil society in a joint position paper published in December 2024. This includes ending all military, economic and political engagements with the military junta; providing humanitarian aid—not through junta-linked entities that weaponize aid but rather through local actors, including border-based channels, so it actually reaches people who need it; not to recognize the junta’s sham election plans; and being serious about a people-led and people-centred solution that “aligns with and supports the collective aspirations of the people of Myanmar.” Furthermore, ASEAN must publicly recognize, and engage with, the legitimate representatives of Myanmar, including the NUG, EROs, and civil society. The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, meeting with his NUG counterpart, Mahn Win Khaing Thann in April is a step in the right direction. However, further steps must be taken to formally convene and consult with the NUG and EROs on a political roadmap towards rebuilding Myanmar through federal democratic governance, as well as rehabilitation after the destruction done by both the military and earthquake.

At the moment, ASEAN still muddled through Myanmar’s polycrisis—ignoring that the military junta lacks political will to honor ASEAN’s 5PC and persists in its violent, terror-driven attempted power grab. While ASEAN is centering the junta for solutions, the Myanmar people remain steadfast to end military tyranny. They know what is best for them and their country. If ASEAN truly wants to see a sustainable solution in Myanmar, why ignore the efforts and calls of Myanmar people, and why not support the solutions of those who bear the brunt of the junta’s atrocities?

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[1] One year following the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, the former military junta changed the country’s name from Burma to Myanmar overnight. Progressive Voice uses the term ‘Myanmar’ in acknowledgement that most people of the country use this term. However, the deception of inclusiveness and the historical process of coercion by the former State Peace and Development Council military regime into usage of ‘Myanmar’ rather than ‘Burma’ without the consent of the people is recognized and not forgotten. Thus, under certain circumstances, ‘Burma’ is used.

Progressive Voice is a participatory, rights-based policy research and advocacy organization that was born out of Burma Partnership. Burma Partnership officially ended its work on October 10, 2016 transitioning to a rights-based policy research and advocacy organization called Progressive Voice. For further information, please see our press release “Burma Partnership Celebrates Continuing Regional Solidarity for Burma and Embraces the Work Ahead for Progressive Voice.”