Republic of the Union of Myanmar
National Unity Government
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Statement (15/2022)
Statement on the outcomes of the 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting
9 August 2022
- The National Unity Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar welcomes the discussion on Myanmar at the 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Cambodia on 3 August 2022, and the address of Myanmar in the corresponding Joint Communiqué.
- ASEAN Foreign Ministers expressed their deep disappointment at the illegal military junta’s ‘lack of commitment’ in implementing the Five-Point Consensus. Yet the Ministers are well aware that this ‘limited progress’ is in fact a deliberate junta strategy by Min Aung Hlaing and his junta to sabotage ASEAN’s efforts – including those of its Chair, H.E. Hun Sen and its Special Envoy on Myanmar, H.E. Prak Sokhonn.
- The National Unity Government is therefore deeply disappointed at the Foreign Ministers’ decision to delay concrete action on Myanmar until ASEAN convenes for its annual Summit in November. This reprieve offers the junta an atrocity window, during which it will continue to escalate its war crimes, crimes against humanity and its acts of terror. The decision also follows ASEAN’s public condemnation1 of the junta’s extrajudicial execution of four political prisoners, martyred for their commitment to a free and democratic Myanmar. While murder is a junta hallmark, these were the first executions under the façade of legal process in over three decades, an issue that ASEAN in its own words said that it ‘takes seriously’.
- The Joint Communiqué reiterates ASEAN’s ‘commitment to peace and stability in the region’. This demands direct action against Min Aung Hlaing and the illegal military junta, which comprise a clear threat to peace and security. The ASEAN Summit must therefore include the National Unity Government, as the legitimate representative of the Myanmar people, to help solve the multiple junta-induced crises wreaking havoc on the region. ASEAN must at the same time listen to Myanmar’s Ethnic Resistance Organizations and to the voices of the Myanmar people, while taking active steps to sideline the junta in earnest.
- ASEAN continues to have a dedicated partner in the National Unity Government. Consistent with the Joint Communiqué’s call, the National Unity Government will meet with Special Envoy Sokhonn at the earliest opportunity.
1 ‘ASEAN Chairman’s Statement on the Execuation of Four Opposition Activists in Myanmar’, 25 July 2022.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
National Unity Government