Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing will attend Asean summit, reports say, as fears mount over refugee crisis
- The presence in Jakarta of Min Aung Hlaing, who led the February coup, has angered activists and human rights groups
- Meanwhile, the junta’s increasingly violent crackdown on post-coup demonstrations may already have displaced 250,000 people
Spokesman Zaw Min Tun said the military commander would attend the Jakarta meeting on Saturday of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the report said. Zaw Min Tun did not answer calls seeking confirmation of the report.
“Min Aung Hlaing, who faces international sanctions for his role in military atrocities and the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, should not be welcomed at an intergovernmental gathering to address a crisis he created,” Human Rights Watch’s Brad Adams said.
Asean has been trying to guide Myanmar, out of the bloody turmoil triggered by the coup, but the group’s principles of consensus and non-interference have restricted its ability to overcome members’ divergent views on how to respond to the army’s killing of hundreds of civilians.
Myanmar’s military has shown little willingness to engage with its neighbours and no sign of wanting to talk to members of the government it ousted, accusing some of them of treason, which is punishable by death.