UN Secretary-General on Myanmar at ASEAN Summit in Malaysia; Karen National Union denies role in KK Park

UN Secretary-General on Myanmar at ASEAN Summit in Malaysia

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said that the 2021 military takeover in Burma had not only “piled calamity upon calamity” but that it also threatened regional stability during a press conference on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 47th summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Monday.

Guterres added that the regime in Naypyidaw must put an end to the “deplorable” violence inflicted on the nation’s 54 million citizens since the 2021 coup and find a “credible path” back to civilian government over four years after it ousted the elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government and jailed its leaders State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint. 

The U.N. supports ASEAN’s peace plan, known as the Five Point Consensus, which was agreed to by Min Aung Hlaing in April 2021 but never implemented upon his return to Burma. Guterres urged immediate humanitarian action for the 22 million in need of assistance and over 3.5 million displaced from their homes due to both natural and man-made disasters, including the 2021 coup and 2025 earthquake.