ASEAN Secretariat needs to have some sense of urgency on Myanmar - FM Saifuddin

KUALA LUMPUR: The ASEAN Secretariat needs to buck up and have some sense of urgency in providing updates on the development in Myanmar, says Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah.

The minister said he and his fellow ASEAN foreign ministers were only receiving report on the situation in Myanmar from their own contacts through the International organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), but not from the ASEAN secretariat itself.

"On Sept 3, I had written a letter to ASEAN secretary general requesting, among others, to update ASEAN foreign ministers on what is actually happening in Myanmar.

"ASEAN secretariat must have a sense of urgency to look into what is actually happening in Myanmar...they (ASEAN secretariat) must have full time team working on the conflict," he told a press conference after visiting Rabbaniyah Educare, a school for Rohingya children here today.

On Feb 1, 2021, Myanmar's military seized power in a coup, hours before the newly elected parliament was due to convene for the first time. Ever since, more than 2,000 people were killed in the uprising against the junta.

The junta last July hanged four political prisoners, among them two prominent pro-democracy activists. Last week ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi was slapped with additional three years in prison on charges of election fraud, taking her total jail term to 20 years over a dozen charges, including corruption. Also last week, it was reported that Myanmar's junta had jailed Vicky Bowman, a former UK ambassador to the country, and her local husband for a year for breaching immigration rules.

-- BERNAMA