ASEAN Leader’s Visit to Burma Unwittingly Shows Many Needed Steps

This past week, ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan traveled to Burma where he met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, President Thein Sein and Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin. While ASEAN and its leaders tend to view developments in Burma through rose-tinted glasses, several of Surin’s comments during and after his visit illustrated just how many more steps are actually needed for there to be genuine reform in the country.

At a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand following his trip, Surin said, “If Myanmar is going to carry out its chairmanship successfully, many things need to happen within the next two years.” He elaborated that the country will need to invest in roads, telecommunications, hotels and internet systems for the thousands of national leaders, delegates and journalists that will attend […]

ASEAN Should Support and Promote a Credible and Transparent Process of Peace and Reconciliation in Myanmar and Mechanism of Human Rights Protection

The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) today welcomed the upcoming visit of ASEAN Secretary General Dr. Surin Pitsuwan to Myanmar on 20 February but noted its continued […]

Open Letter to Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations

We write to you today on behalf of the undersigned ASEAN civil society organizations to share our lingering concerns about on‐going human rights violations in Burma/Myanmar ahead of your mission to the country on 20 February 2012. We would like […]