Will ASEAN exclude Myanmar’s junta from upcoming military meetings?

Some of the worst instances of Myanmar’s military junta representing the country internationally have occurred in military meetings and training sessions organised by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Yet, these are also the settings where ASEAN member states and dialogue partners have shown the greatest willingness to exclude the junta or boycott events involving them. So, will ASEAN exclude the junta from its upcoming military meetings?Later this month, the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meetings (ADMM and ADMM-Plus) will take place in Laos. Ahead of these meetings, 80 Myanmar civil society organisations have written to all participating defence ministers, urging them to either exclude the junta or boycott the event if the junta is allowed to attend. Will this happen? That remains uncertain, but ASEAN has shown similar resolve in the past. In November 2022, ASEAN defence ministers excluded Mya Tun Oo, the junta’s “minister for defence” (now its “deputy prime minister”), from ministerial meetings. In August 2023, when the junta co-hosted an ADMM-Plus counter-terrorism training with Russia, several countries—including Singapore, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and the United States—boycotted the event. Japan and South Korea were notably absent from event photos as well.In September 2023, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia boycotted an ASEAN air force chiefs’ meeting hosted by the military junta.Many of ASEAN’s dialogue partners—including the UK, EU, US, Canada, and Australia—have sanctioned junta officials and the economic entities under military control.Yet ASEAN has allowed the junta to represent Myanmar at hundreds of meetings and events since the coup. Remarkably, it has even allowed the junta to hold formal roles within its military structures. From 2021 to 2023, the junta co-chaired the ADMM-Plus Experts Working Group on Counter Terrorism with Russia. During one of these sessions, junta representatives openly discussed tactics aimed at the publicly mandated National Unity Government and its armed wing, the People’s Defence Force.The junta has also led the ASEAN Air Chiefs’ and Navy Chiefs’ Meetings, hosting events in Myanmar in September 2023 and October 2024, respectively.The Myanmar military is not a legitimate government nor a professional military force. Instead, it is a criminal junta engaged in an ongoing coup attempt and a campaign of terror against the people of Myanmar. Therefore, it has no right to represent Myanmar in ASEAN meetings or activities.When ASEAN treats the junta as a legitimate government and military force, it confers false legitimacy on them. Worse, allowing the junta to participate in training exercises effectively supports its ongoing campaign of terror against the people of Myanmar.This undermines efforts to build a democratic Myanmar and aids the junta in its illegal and unsuccessful quest for full control of the country. This is clearly unacceptable, so why does ASEAN allow it?The answer lies in the lack of consensus among ASEAN members on how to handle the junta. ASEAN’s decisions reflect the differing priorities and positions of its member states, and there is no clear unity on this issue.What’s clear is that continued pressure on ASEAN members and dialogue partners is necessary to push for more decisive action against the junta and in support of the people of Myanmar.That’s why Defend Myanmar Democracy and other civil society organisations continue to press ASEAN members and their partners for change. Naw Aung is a representative of Defend Myanmar Democracy, a civil society campaign advocating for the rights of Myanmar's people to democratic representation in all international forums.

Will ASEAN exclude Myanmar’s junta from upcoming military meetings?

The regional grouping needs to find the political will to deny the regime the international acceptance that it craves

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