ASEAN (Asean) leaders met with Burmese junta leader Min Aung Hlaing in Jakarta, Indonesia, this afternoon, April 24, to discuss the “crisis in Burma. Since seizing power, General Min Aung Hlaing has led a bloody crackdown on protesters that has left more than 700 people dead.
ASEAN leaders discuss the crisis in Myanmar in Jakarta. It was the first visit abroad by Burma’s military chief Min Aung Hlaing since his army seized power and placed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest.
The crisis in Myanmar has worsened since the Feb. 1 military coup, threatening to destabilize the region. According to a U.N. special rapporteur, massive protests against the coup in Myanmar have been met with a bloody crackdown and some 250,000 people have fled the unrest.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo and the Sultan of Brunei, who currently chairs ASEAN, hosted the leaders of most of the organization’s 10 countries, which also include Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Laos. Thailand, the Philippines and Laos were represented by ministers at the meeting.
A call to end violence
The closed-door meeting, held at the ASEAN secretariat in Jakarta, was closed to the media and security measures were tight. AFP said a communiqué was expected to be issued at the end of the closed-door meeting.
In his speech, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin called for an immediate end to violence against civilians and the release of prisoners. He called for ASEAN representatives to “go into Burma and reach out to all relevant parties. “The deplorable situation in Myanmar must end immediately,” he stressed.
He added, “Malaysia believes that the killings and violence must stop.” All parties must urgently restrain any provocative actions and avoid actions that perpetuate violence and unrest.
Protests were reported across Myanmar on Saturday, from Kachin State in the north to Yangon. In the former capital Yangon, protesters held a mock funeral for the country’s generals, smashing saffron-colored pots, a symbol of separation from the dead, on the ground.
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