Bangkok, May 21 (IANS) Myanmar’s military rulers have ignored a tentative peace plan agreed a month ago by the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), according to lawmakers from across the region.
The ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) group on Friday urged the bloc’s nine other member-states to push for “immediate and effective implementation of the Five-Point Consensus,” as the blueprint is called, “and to hold the military accountable for its blatant disregard” of the deal, dpa news agency reported.
Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing signed up to the consensus, which includes calls for an end to violence and the visit to Myanmar of a regional envoy, during an ASEAN summit one month ago.
The army seized power in Myanmar on February 1, arresting civilian government leaders including Aung San Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel peace laureate.
Nationwide protests against the coup have been met with fierce army reprisals that activists say have killed over 800 people.
The April ASEAN deal came about after some neighbouring governments voiced concerns about spill-over as refugees fled border-region fighting between the army and ethnic militias.
“Nothing has changed,” said Malaysian opposition lawmaker Charles Santiago, the APHR chair, who on Friday accused Min Aung Hlaing of “blatantly ignoring” the deal.
Kasit Piromya, a former Thai foreign minister, said ASEAN governments run the risk of being seen as acting “to protect them (the junta) against global condemnation, not to end the violence”.