Asean leaders to visit Myanmar amid divisions within bloc over response to coup

Name: Aung San Suu Kyi makes first court appearance since coup as Myanmar violence continues
Uploaded: 2021-06-02T02:13:12.000Z
Duration: 1 min 49 s
Description: Aung San Suu Kyi makes first court appearance since coup as Myanmar violence continues

Last-minute logistical and diplomatic impediments could derail the planned trip by the Asean chair and secretary general, four diplomatic sources said

It comes more than five weeks after Asean’s ‘five-point consensus’ on Myanmar, and as Indonesia called for an envoy to be ‘immediately’ appointed

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A protester holds a poster featuring Myanmar’s detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a demonstration against the military coup in April. Photo: Handout/Facebook via AFP

Reutersin Jakarta/Bangkok

Published: 10:13am, 2 Jun 2021Updated: 3:29pm, 2 Jun 2021

The chair and secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plan to travel to Myanmar this week even as the 10-nation bloc remains divided on how to respond to the military coup there, four diplomatic sources said.

Asean, a grouping that includes Myanmar and has a policy of non-interference in the affairs of members, has led the main diplomatic effort to resolve the violent turmoil gripping the country following the overthrow of a democratically-elected government four months ago.

The military has detained Myanmar’s civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and imprisoned political opponents amid a deadly crackdown on protesters, resulting in a growing refugee crisis and the collapse of the economy.

Erywan Yusof, the second minister for foreign affairs for Brunei, Asean’s chair this year, and the bloc’s secretary general Lim Jock Hoi, also from Brunei, are expected to meet this week with leaders of the junta, among other stakeholders, said the sources, who asked not to be identified.

The sources warned that a trip could be delayed or derailed by last-minute logistical and diplomatic impediments.

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Aung San Suu Kyi makes first court appearance since coup as Myanmar violence continues

It is unclear if the pair plan to meet with opponents of the junta, many of whom are imprisoned or in hiding. Spokesmen for Asean and the Myanmar opposition’s National Unity Government did not respond to requests for comment. Brunei’s Asean mission also did not respond to a request for comment.