ASEAN Foreign Ministers Hold Emergency Talks on Myanmar

KOMPAS.com - Foreign ministers of Southeast Asian nations met in Jakarta on Thursday, Oct. 27, to discuss how to start a stalled peace process in crisis-hit Myanmar.

In recent weeks, Myanmar has seen some of the deadliest incidents since the military coup in February 2021.

The meeting is taking place in the Indonesian capital without a representative of Myanmar's military junta and comes ahead of next month's Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders' summit.

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What is ASEAN hoping to achieve for Myanmar?

ASEAN has said that it is "gravely concerned" over the rising human rights abuses in Myanmar, but its attempts to resolve the crisis are yet to yield results.

A five-point ASEAN plan from April 2021 would be one of the keys focuses of Thursday's emergency meeting, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has said.

The five points include:

• an immediate cessation of violence;
• dialogue among all concerned parties;
• the appointment of an ASEAN special envoy for mediation;
• increased aid;
• and a visit by the special envoy to Myanmar to meet all stakeholders.

The 10-country bloc's peace effort is the only official diplomatic process on the table.

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