The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Special Envoy on Myanmar and Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary, Maria Theresa Lazaro, will lead a two-day humanitarian mission to Myanmar starting Wednesday, ASEAN chair the Philippines announced.
The itinerary includes a trip to conflict-affected Shan State alongside high-level diplomatic engagements with senior regime officials in Naypyidaw.
While the Philippines confirmed the mission’s scope, detailed schedules for meetings with regime figures remain undisclosed.
The visit proceeds under deep diplomatic friction, as Myanmar’s regime have yet to formally confirm the trip after declaring in August that there was no longer a need for a dedicated ASEAN special envoy.
Lazaro had previously lodged formal requests to meet with jailed Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, who has remained in detention since the Feb. 1, 2021 military coup.
However, the regime continues to rebuff all diplomatic appeals by the Philippines to allow Lazaro access to Aung San Suu Kyi.
The ongoing crisis since the 2021 coup has plunged Myanmar into a devastating civil war, with an estimated 100,000 people killed and more than 3.5 million displaced nationwide over the last five years.
The mission also highlights deep fissures within the regional bloc over how to handle Naypyidaw’s isolation.
Myanmar’s senior regime leaders remain formally barred from attending high-level ASEAN summits and meetings due to its failure to implement the bloc’s Five-Point Consensus peace plan.
Nevertheless, several regional governments—including Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos—have recently broken ranks to receive regime leader Min Aung Hlaing for official bilateral talks.
Following a heavily managed election on Jan. 25 dominated by pro-military political parties—after pro-democracy parties including Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) were disbanded—Min Aung Hlaing was inaugurated president on April 10 and has been aggressively pursuing diplomatic normalization and re-engagement with ASEAN member states.
REUTERS
