The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is gravely concerned about escalating violence in Myanmar, the bloc’s chair Cambodia said, in remarks ahead of a special meeting of its foreign ministers on Thursday (Oct 26) to discuss the crisis.
“We are deeply saddened by the growing casualties, and the immense suffering that ordinary people in Myanmar have endured,” the chair’s statement said, calling for restraint, an immediate cessation of fighting, and for all parties to pursue dialogue.
Myanmar’s generals have been barred from high-level ASEAN meetings since last year, when the army ousted Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government, detaining her and thousands of activists and launching a deadly crackdown that has given rise to armed resistance movements.
A spokesperson for the Cambodian foreign ministry said Myanmar would not be participating in Thursday’s meeting at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta.
The gathering aims to come up with recommendations on how to push forward the peace process ahead of an ASEAN summit next month.
The ASEAN chair cited the bombing of Myanmar’s largest prison, conflict in Karen State and an an air strike in Kachin State on Sunday, which local media said killed at least 50 people, as examples of the recent increase in violence.
The conflict was not only exacerbating the humanitarian situation but was also undermining efforts to implement a peace “consensus” agreed between ASEAN and the junta last year, said the statement.