Activists urge ASEAN to review Myanmar entry

Activists urge ASEAN to review Myanmar entry

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): A chorus of activist and opposition groups at the weekend called on ASEAN to reconsider Myanmar's membership after foreign ministers from the grouping delayed Cambodia's admission because of political violence.

"If ASEAN is willing to recognize the elected representatives of Cambodia, it should do the same for Burma (Myanmar)," said the Bangkok-based "Alternative ASEAN Network on Myanmar" in a statement.

Foreign ministers from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Thursday decided to delay Cambodia's admission after bloody military feuding between the country's two prime ministers a week ago, citing the use of force there as the reason.

But they said ASEAN would admit Myanmar and Laos as scheduled at the organization's annual meeting at the end of this month in Kuala Lumpur. ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

"In many ways, the situation in Myanmar parallels Cambodia," the Alternative ASEAN statement said. "War continues to rage in parts of the country. A total of more than 200,000 refugees are gathered on its borders with Thailand, Bangladesh and India. Forced relocations and forced labor is rampant."

Referring to the refusal of Myanmar's military rulers to accept the results of the 1991 election won by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, the group said: "If ASEAN is willing to recognize the elected representatives of Cambodia, logically it should do the same for Myanmar."

The Myanmar Solidarity Group Malaysia accused ASEAN of double standards.

"The foreign ministers' decision has exposed finally and firmly that ASEAN's so-called commitment to the principle of non- interference in the internal affairs of another state is an utter myth," the group said in a weekend statement.

"When it is not convenient, as in the case of Burma (Myanmar) under the military junta ... ASEAN does nothing to embarrass or jeopardize the illegal and illegitimate regime there."

Last month Myanmar's ruling generals rebuffed a suggestion from Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah Badawi, this year's ASEAN chairman, to start talks with Suu Kyi.

"This is a direct slap in the collective face of ASEAN; it is a reminder that ASEAN's so-called policy of constructive engagement is nothing but a fig leaf which has failed miserably to conceal the illegalities and indecencies of the ... junta."

The group said it has repeatedly warned that ASEAN's tolerance of Myanmar's military rulers would encourage coups in other parts of Southeast Asia. "Events of the past few days in Cambodia have validated our dire warning."

Malaysian human rights group Suaram said the events in Cambodia showed the limits of ASEAN's policy of constructive engagement, which says Myanmar's rulers can best be reformed if the country is within the grouping.

"If ASEAN had failed to convince Cambodia's political forces to co-exist peacefully, how would 'constructive engagement' with Burma (Myanmar) work?"

Meanwhile, Malaysia's parliamentary opposition leader, Lim Kit Siang, applauded ASEAN's deferment of Cambodia's membership in a statement Saturday.

But its inconsistency in going ahead with Myanmar's membership "would undo the gains in international prestige and credibility won by ASEAN on the Cambodian question", the statement said.