Asean not as effective as hoped in Myanmar, Singapore foreign minister says
- Vivian Balakrishnan says the situation in Myanmar is ‘dire’, and that diplomatic efforts by the 10-nation bloc have not been ‘as effective or as quick as hoped’
- Some 1,000 people have died since the February 1 coup, while a humanitarian crisis has worsened amid the Covid-19 pandemic
“(The bloc is) not as effective or as quick as we would have hoped for. But this is a difficult situation,” Vivian Balakrishnan said.
In April, Asean announced a five-point consensus aimed at resolving the crisis. As part of those efforts, the bloc appointed Brunei’s second minister for foreign affairs as special envoy to Myanmar in early August.
Balakrishnan said he hoped there would be progress to report on the envoy’s visit before the Asean leaders’ summit in November. But he cautioned that the military had to grant the envoy access to all stakeholders for the visit to be meaningful.
“The key litmus test now will be how they engage with our special envoy,” Balakrishnan said.
The death toll as a result of Myanmar’s February 1 coup topped 1,000 this week, according to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP) activist group, which has been recording killings by security forces.