By Nway / MPA
Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG) is urging ASEAN to adopt firm and effective measures to confront the military junta’s ongoing atrocities, emphasizing the need for stronger regional intervention.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar’s shadow government urged ASEAN to honor its commitments to human rights and regional security in a statement released Wednesday, highlighting the junta’s escalating violence against the Myanmar people.
A Yangon-based political columnist told MPA, “The statement asserts that now is the time for ASEAN to take concrete action against the military’s brutal attacks on civilians.”
However, the columnist added, “With its current approach, ASEAN lacks the capacity to take meaningful action against the junta. While ASEAN’s response to the Myanmar crisis remains largely symbolic, the NUG must continue to speak out and push for real change.”
The statement emphasized that ASEAN now has a crucial opportunity to move beyond the Five-Point Consensus and take clear, decisive steps to support a Myanmar-owned, Myanmar-led process that truly reflects the will of the Myanmar people.
This moment demands firm action to restore justice, peace, and dignity for every individual in Myanmar.
The people of Myanmar are enduring severe daily hardships and urgently need meaningful intervention. Civilians continue to be displaced by military airstrikes, including a recent attack on a monastery in Nawnghkio Township, northern Shan State, and widespread destruction of villages across the country.
Vital infrastructure—such as schools and hospitals—has also been targeted and destroyed, worsening the humanitarian crisis.
According to data from the Ministry of Human Rights covering 2023 through March 16, 2025, the military junta has carried out 2,190 airstrikes on civilian areas, resulting in the deaths of 372 children, as reported by the National Unity Government (NUG).
The junta’s deliberate attacks on religious sites and civilian populations in the Mandalay, Magway, and Sagaing regions, as well as in Shan State, underscore the severity of the crisis.
Ongoing airstrikes continue to cause rising civilian casualties and the destruction of essential infrastructure.
The NUG has urged the international community to take effective, coordinated, and decisive action to protect the people of Myanmar and uphold fundamental humanitarian principles.
The statement also underscored ASEAN’s critical opportunity to take the lead in addressing Myanmar’s escalating crisis—especially while much of the world’s focus remains on Ukraine.
