HEADLINE-MYANMAR | Thailand confident aid effort will lead to Myanmar crisis dialogue | Suu Kyi in ‘strong spirits’, says son
War knows no age: Refugee children from Myanmar, who fled after a surge in violence as the military cracks down on rebel groups, cook at a camp near the Myanmar-Thailand border in Kayin state, on Monday. (AFP/Stringer)
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FREE ASEAN-FREE MYANMAR-FREE Aung San Suu Kyi. |
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Thailand plans to establish a humanitarian safe zone later this month at its border with Myanmar, near the Mae Sot-Myawaddy crossing, to deliver food and medical supplies to local communities and 20,000 people displaced by fighting, said Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Thailand’s vice foreign minister.
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A new Thailand-led humanitarian initiative aims to pave the way for talks between warring camps in military-ruled Myanmar, a senior Thai official said, three years after a coup triggered instability and a wave of violence across the country.
Thailand plans to establish a humanitarian safe zone later this month at its border with Myanmar, near the Mae Sot-Myawaddy crossing, to deliver food and medical supplies to local communities and 20,000 people displaced by fighting, said Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Thailand’s vice foreign minister.
Sihasak said the plan would augment efforts by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which has tried unsuccessfully to start a peace process between the military and its enemies among ethnic minority armies and an armed resistance movement.
Memento Maxima Digital MarketingThe ultimate goal was to bring the conflict under control and open up dialogue channels.
“We don’t want to see a Myanmar that is destabilised further,” he said, adding the process must be “effective, credible and transparent”.
The initiative, endorsed last week by ASEAN foreign ministers and a representative from Myanmar, will see the Thai and Myanmar Red Cross deliver supplies on the ground under the observation of ASEAN’s humanitarian aid body.
Myanmar has been locked in conflict since the military seized power in 2021, upending a decade of tentative democracy and reform. The United Nations says at least 2.6 million people have been displaced by fighting and more than 18 million people are in need of assistance.
ASEAN’s peace plan, which Myanmar’s generals agreed to in April 2021, has yet to advance, with frustration in the bloc about the junta’s lack of commitment. Central to the plan is dialogue between rival forces, which the generals call “terrorists” and refuse to engage with.
Sihasak said the Thai-led plan could lead to talks that include the junta, ethnic armed groups and a shadow National Unity Government allied with pro-democracy militias.
He did not say if the junta had agreed to such talks.
“Some kind of a dialogue process should begin maybe at least by the middle of the year,” Sihasak said, without elaborating.
Thailand had consulted international partners, including Myanmar’s other neighbours, India and China, he added.
“It’s about paving the way for Myanmar to once again reengage and engage constructively with the international community,” he said.
“This is an opportunity for some dialogue, constructive dialogue, to begin.”
Reuters Bangkok, Thailand Tue, February 6, 2024
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Suu Kyi in ‘strong spirits’, says son
File photo of Aung San Suu Kyi speaking during a visit to Thayarwaddy township, Bago Region. PHOTO: AFP
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BANGKOK (AFP) – Ousted Myanmar democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi is in “strong spirits”, her son told AFP yesterday after receiving a letter from her – their first communication since she was detained in a coup three years ago.
“She is in strong spirits as always,” Kim Aris said of the letter he received from his mother, who is being held in the military-built capital Naypyidaw.
Suu Kyi was detained on the morning of the coup in February 2021 and has since been sentenced to prison for more than 20 years, after what rights groups said was a sham trial in a junta court.
She has been largely hidden from view since, appearing only in grainy state media photos at her trial.
The letter received in early January was “the first real indication I’ve had… that she’s actually alive”, Aris told AFP by phone from London.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the coup. A military crackdown on dissent has killed over 4,400 people and seen over 25,000 arrested, according to a local monitoring group.
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