Showing 1 - 10 of 21
Progress lies beyond pre-coup order
News, Published on 07/10/2024
» From Tuesday until Friday, Laos will host a summit of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) leaders. The event will also bring Asean partners from around the world to the capital Vientiane. Its agenda will be weighed down by complex and potentially divisive issues. One of them is the situation in Myanmar, which has been on the agenda since April 2021.
Asean should back a new Myanmar
Oped, Published on 24/01/2024
» On Jan 28-29, Asean's foreign ministers will meet in historic Luang Prabang, until 1975 the capital of Laos, their host country. It will be their first meeting since Laos took over Asean's rotating chairmanship from Indonesia at the beginning of the year.
Repatriation needs right conditions
Oped, Published on 27/03/2023
» Early this month, news broke about plans of Myanmar's military regime to start repatriating some 1,000 Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh to Myanmar's Rakhine State. Myanmar's generals are in a hurry. Reportedly, they want to start repatriation by mid-next month, during Ramadan. The choice of that date is no coincidence.
Myanmar crisis will vex Asean meet
News, Published on 17/10/2022
» The 2022 Asean summit in Cambodia on Nov 10–13 is approaching. Because the crisis in Myanmar goes to the heart of questions about Asean's role in the region, this will no doubt be one of the more problematic issues on the leaders' agenda.
Asean still toothless a year after Myanmar coup
News, Published on 24/01/2022
» The first anniversary of Myanmar's military coup is approaching. Since Feb 1 last year, the country's socio-political landscape has changed dramatically. Brutal fighting has reached many parts of the country and the economy lies in tatters, while the UN warns that half the population may soon slip below the poverty line.
The long wait for Asean is reaching its limits
Oped, Published on 06/08/2021
» Even though Asean may now get a mediation effort started in Myanmar, others who can play a role in helping to address immediate humanitarian needs, particularly related to Covid-19, must go ahead and assist where they can.
Rakhine engagement must be based on facts
Oped, Published on 15/05/2021
» The Asean special summit on Myanmar's crisis in Jakarta on April 24 led to a five-point consensus that has received considerable international attention. But another important paragraph in the summit statement has largely been overlooked.
When to admit a coup has failed
Oped, Published on 21/04/2021
» It had seemed so easy: Close off the access roads into Myanmar's capital Nay Pyi Taw, surround the buildings housing members of parliament and government, as well all chief ministers of the states of the Union, and presto! Your coup d'état delivers itself. That is what the Tatmadaw, as Myanmar's military is called, must have thought.
Myanmar's coup stalls settlement of Rohingya saga
News, Published on 06/03/2021
» Shortly after Myanmar's military coup on Feb 1, a boat packed with Rohingya refugees left Bangladesh. Ten days later, the refugee agency UNHCR reported that the vessel was adrift in the Andaman Sea. It appealed to maritime authorities to provide swift assistance. In late February the vessel was found in Indian waters. Of the 81 people on board, eight had died. A diplomatic spat between India and Bangladesh followed. Neither country wanted to take responsibility for the group.
Rakhine crisis needs holistic approach
Oped, Published on 21/10/2020
» When Myanmar joined Asean in 1997, it was considered a strategic move to counter the influence of China and India. Since then, Asean's relationship with the country has had many ups and downs, often due to persistent reports of human rights abuses.