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ASEAN meet plots aid distribution in Myanmar

Rights groups slam strategy for legitimizing military rule, rebuke Cambodia for not inviting UN special envoy
ASEAN meet plots aid distribution in Myanmar

Civilians hide in a cave on May 3 after the Myanmar military attacked their village in Doo Tha Htoo district in Kayin state. (Photo: Free Burma Rangers/AFP)

Published: May 09, 2022 03:58 AM GMT
Updated: May 09, 2022 04:08 AM GMT

ASEAN envoy to Myanmar Prak Sakhonn has laid out an extensive plan for the distribution of aid across the country, but human rights groups have condemned the strategy because they say it legitimizes military rule.

They were also angered by a decision not to invite United Nations special envoy to Myanmar Noeleen Heyzer to the Consultative Meeting on ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance to Myanmar in Phnom Penh, saying she was blocked by the junta and calling the decision “a disgrace.”

"The meeting hosted by Cambodia was a clear attempt to legitimize aid delivery by the Myanmar military, an institution with a long history of weaponizing aid distribution,” said Charles Santiago, chairperson of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR).

“Rather than legitimizing the delivery of assistance by a junta with an appalling record of human rights violations and brutality, ASEAN should step up the pressure on the Myanmar military to make sure that the aid the Myanmar people so badly need is not weaponized.” 

A statement released by Prak Sokhonn, who is also the Cambodian foreign minister, said the meeting focused on three frameworks for the distribution of humanitarian assistance, addressing operational challenges and the administration of Covid-19 vaccinations.

It said states receiving assistance would require the approval of the Military Task Force, which would carry out the distribution of aid with the ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance Centre (AHAC) and the National Solidarity Peacemaking Negotiations Committee.

“It is extremely difficult to believe that the perpetrators of all kinds of atrocities against the Myanmar people will deliver aid to them in an impartial and effective manner”

The meeting also agreed that AHAC —  in close consultation with the Military Task Force — would be responsible for identifying the states and regions in Myanmar that receive aid and that this would include communities within areas of the ethnic armed organizations.

It said the states and regions identified for the implementation of the framework include Kayah, Kayin, Magway, Saigang and Bago, adding the Military Task Force had agreed to do its utmost to expedite the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

Regarding Covid-19 vaccinations, it said AHAC would work with Myanmar’s health ministry in distributing and administering jabs where needed, with vaccines to be imported and tax exempt.

Prak Sokhonn said the safety and security of all parties involved in distributing aid and vaccines had to be guaranteed and he urged their delivery to be made in a “timely, effective, safe and non-discriminatory manner.”

“It is imperative to ensure that humanitarian programs in Myanmar have a long-lasting impact in addressing pressing humanitarian concerns faced by the affected communities,” he said.

However, Santiago said that ASEAN had given an illegal junta, which overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, the power to veto people who are working towards finding a solution to the crisis in Myanmar.

“We have noted with grave concern that areas singled out for assistance are being subjected to the junta’s scorched-earth military campaigns,” he said.

“It is extremely difficult to believe that the perpetrators of all kinds of atrocities against the Myanmar people will deliver aid to them in an impartial and effective manner.”

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