![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.rfa.org\/english\/news\/myanmar\/citizenship-06042021204200.html\/myanmar-nug-support-march-yangon-april-2021.jpg\" "\\"myanmar-nug-support-march-yangon-april-2021.JPG\\"")
<\/a>\n\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\u2018No hope\u2019 in ASEAN efforts<\/strong><\/p>\nAs NUG held its press conference, state television announced that Brunei Second Foreign Minister Erywan Yusof and ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi met with Min Aung Hlaing to discuss the outcome of last month\u2019s ASEAN summit, COVID-19 vaccination\u00a0availability, the \u201cterrorist acts\u201d of the NUG, voter registration \u201cirregularities\u201d in the November 2020 ballot, and the possibility of a new election. Few details were provided on the substance of Friday\u2019s talks.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, an Indonesian diplomat told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity that the delegation\u2019s purpose was to seek Myanmar\u2019s approval of an ASEAN special envoy for the crisis, who is yet to be named. He said the choice of the envoy involved both sides, making progress slow.<\/p>\n
On Friday, NUG Deputy Foreign Minister Moe Zaw Oo said the\u00a0shadow government\u00a0had requested talks with ASEAN but did not receive a response.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey should be holding talks with both sides, not just one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this point, we don\u2019t have any hopes for\u00a0a positive result from ASEAN\u2019s efforts. They don\u2019t seem to have a proper coordinated plan. Frankly speaking, this is something ASEAN must work on seriously for their credibility, and not in a superficial manner.\u201d<\/p>\n
NUG youth leader Thinzar Shun Le Yee noted that several ASEAN members had called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other ousted leaders during the summit in Jakarta on April 24, but that the request was left out of the bloc\u2019s official statement at its conclusion.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt showed their lack of sincerity,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have been closely watching the visit and we are now concerned about whether they have officially recognized the junta.\u201d<\/p>\n
Terms agreed to at the Jakarta summit included an immediate end to the violence in Myanmar that has seen nearly 850 people killed since the coup, dialogue between the military and NUG, mediation of the dialogue by the special envoy, and safe entry for humanitarian aid. None of the terms have been met.<\/p>\n
Political analyst Than Soe Naing told RFA that ASEAN should be aware no political solution will be attainable for Myanmar unless the country\u2019s ousted leaders are first released from detention.<\/p>\n
\u201cSecondly, by meeting only with the military and listening to just one side of the story, it could mean ASEAN is ignoring NUG and has officially recognized the military [regime],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur people are expecting them to meet with all parties concerned and to strive to find ways to solve the problem not through violence, but by peaceful means.\u201d<\/p>\n
Than Soe Naing\u2019s comments echoed a statement issued earlier this week by the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), which urged Myanmar\u2019s military to adhere to ASEAN recommendations and meet with all key stakeholders.<\/p>\n
And on Friday, the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M) group of international experts that include former U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Yanghee Lee and former chair of the U.N. Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar Marzuki Darusman, released a statement that said the ASEAN delegation in Myanmar is obligated under its mandate to meet with the NUG and the democracy movement.<\/p>\n
\u201cFailure to meet with all relevant parties risks lending legitimacy to the junta and undermines the enormous effort and sacrifice made by the people of Myanmar to resist the junta\u2019s violent and unlawful attempt to seize power,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
Guarded welcome from Rohingya<\/strong><\/p>\n Rohingya leaders in Bangladesh on Friday guardedly welcomed a pledge by Myanmar\u2019s shadow government to grant citizenship to members of their stateless community if and when it returns to power, with refugees saying they have been cheated many times before.<\/p>\n Master Md. Ilias, who fled Myanmar and lives in Cox\u2019s Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh, said he was one of the Rohingya leaders consulted by the parallel Burmese civilian National Unity Government before it issued its groundbreaking statement on Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the past, they [the majority Buddhist leaders] repeatedly cheated and suppressed us. But we cautiously welcome the statement,\u201d Ilias told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to believe that the NUG will return all of our civil and political rights and citizenship, but many of us would not trust them so easily.\u201d<\/p>\n Tun Khin, a Rohingya in Britain, said the NUG\u2019s pledge \u201cis a welcome step forward \u2026 but its policy is far from perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n Rohingya also expressed disappointment that the parallel civilian government\u2019s statement from a day earlier did not refer to the Burmese military\u2019s atrocities against the Rohingya as constituting a \u201cgenocide,\u201d or what the United Nations described as \u201ca textbook example of ethnic cleansing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe NUG Myanmar must, crucially, recognize that a genocide is taking place against the Rohingya,\u201d said Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya organization in the U.K., via Twitter.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we can\u2019t face the reality of the past, there is no way that we can build a common future.\u201d<\/p>\n Reported by RFA\u2019s Myanmar Service and by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Translated by YKMM and Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \n \n
\r\nThis content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia<\/a> and was authored by Radio Free Asia.
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