Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yacob has expressed dissatisfaction with the UN Security Council’s approach to the ongoing political situation in Myanmar.
Ismail said at the UNGA on Friday that the Security Council had taken “no significant steps” to address the situation in Myanmar and described its findings as “deeply regrettable”.
Some believe the Security Council has abandoned Myanmar and left the situation to ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations), he added.
In February 2021, the military overthrew the elected administration of Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar, plunging the nation into what some UN experts describe as a new civil war that has claimed thousands of lives.
The prime minister added that ASEAN’s “five-point consensus” needed to be given “a new lease of life” as it called for an immediate end to violence, the appointment of a special envoy and negotiations to include all parties. .
Malaysia is disappointed that ASEAN’s five-point consensus is not being effectively implemented, particularly by the junta in Myanmar. He argued that the ASEAN five-point consensus cannot survive in its current form.
The National Unity Government (NUG), founded by elected officials who ousted the generals, has been called by Malaysia, which has also asked ASEAN to engage with it. Malaysia has been leading calls for a tougher stance against Myanmar’s military government.
Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia have also called for a tough stance with Myanmar’s generals.
According to Malaysia’s prime minister, the crisis has worsened conditions for millions of Myanmar refugees, particularly the Muslim Rohingya, who are currently confined to vast refugee camps in Bangladesh.
Despite not having signed the 1967 Protocol and the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, Malaysia has, accordingly, accepted approximately 200,000 Rohingya refugees.
H.E. Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Prime Minister of Malaysia 🇲🇾 @UN #GeneralDebate
— Journal of the United Nations (@Journal_UN_ONU) September 23, 2022
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