Reflections

ASEAN’s FINAL HOUR ON MYANMAR

With less than six months before Malaysia hands over the ASEAN chairmanship to the Philippines, time is fast slipping through Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s fingers.

The rhetoric has been predictable: calls for “ceasefires,” “inclusive dialogue,” and “regional stability”. But these phrases ring hollow against the daily bloodshed in Myanmar.

There was never a real ceasefire to begin with, only a cruel silence broken by airstrikes, raids, and massacres. To keep echoing the junta’s narrative of de-escalation is to peddle delusion at the expense of lives.

If Anwar is serious about regional leadership, and not just stage-managing another summit, then he must stop viewing the Myanmar military as a stakeholder in peace.

They are the architects of genocide, not partners in negotiation. There has to be an expiry date to Malaysia’s “inclusive” approach that keeps inviting General Min Aung Hlaing to the table while treating the National Unity Government (NUG) like a fringe player. At this point, “engagement” with the junta isn’t diplomacy but complicity.

What Malaysia should be championing are bold, tangible moves ASEAN has long feared to touch. Top of the list: targeted sanctions.

A regional ban on jet fuel sales to Myanmar’s air force, whose bombers routinely target schools and clinics, is well within reach. Malaysia should be leading calls for an embargo on arms sales, a coordinated freeze on overseas bank accounts tied to junta leaders, and travel bans on senior military figures, especially Min Aung Hlaing. These measures aren’t radical. They are overdue.

And Anwar must stop pretending that Thaksin Shinawatra, a convicted felon with dubious motives, is the region’s best shot at a breakthrough. Banking on him to cut deals with Min Aung Hlaing is not only tone-deaf but risks laundering the junta’s legitimacy through backdoor personal networks.

Instead, put him to work identifying alternative routes for humanitarian aid, routes that bypass the regime entirely. And then let him work his trademark brand of dictator diplomacy to see it through. There are already viable channels through the Karen state, civil society organisations, and armed ethnic groups who have long shouldered the humanitarian burden.

This is the moment for Anwar to rewrite ASEAN’s script. It means recognising the NUG as a legitimate political representative. It means coordinating with ASEAN peers, especially Indonesia and the Philippines, to shift from meaningless consensus to actionable policy. It means staring down pushback from member states still stuck in the “non-interference” fantasy.

Because if Malaysia cannot take an ethical position now, during its chairmanship, then it cements ASEAN’s place as a ceremonial bloc, irrelevant in the face of atrocity.