Asean foreign ministers have agreed to explore a proposal to appoint a permanent Special Envoy on Myanmar, according to Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
Speaking at a press conference at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) on Sunday (May 25), Mohamad said none of his counterparts objected to the proposal, which involves appointing an Asean Special Envoy for a three-year term.
While reaffirming Asean’s policy of non-interference in member states’ internal affairs, Mohamad stressed that the ongoing crisis in Myanmar has led to transnational crimes and a growing refugee crisis affecting neighbouring countries, including Malaysia.
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Speaking at a press conference at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) on Sunday (May 25), Mohamad said none of his counterparts objected to the proposal, which involves appointing an Asean Special Envoy for a three-year term.
While reaffirming Asean’s policy of non-interference in member states’ internal affairs, Mohamad stressed that the ongoing crisis in Myanmar has led to transnational crimes and a growing refugee crisis affecting neighbouring countries, including Malaysia.
Read more at https://tinyurl.com/4rsrm4cu
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar
LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline
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NewsTranscript
00:00The meeting also agreed for ASEAN to undertake internal ASEAN consultations on the proposal
00:06for permanent ASEAN special envoy on Myanmar. Otherwise, we take turn. Every year we change
00:14special envoy, then we have to start all over again, all over again, and there's no end
00:18to it. So that we have agreed we want to explore, and majority does not agree. Nobody
00:24is it otherwise. And just matter of who is going to be the permanent special envoy, maybe
00:31on three-year term. We have already sent a very strong signal, message to Myanmar, that
00:37we would want Myanmar to comply with the five-point consensus first. Stop the hostilities, cease
00:44fire, sit down together with all parties, with the stakeholders, and then let this humanitarian
00:51aid reach the respective area. And then generally we talk about election. There's no point having
01:00election if it is partially participated by people of Myanmar. That will aggravate the situation
01:08further. So as far as ASEAN is concerned, we are very much insist upon this five-point consensus
01:16and we are ever-willing to address the five-point consensus to be fulfilled by this SAC. That
01:23is not a priority of ASEAN. What is the point if it is just a whitewash for to cover up in
01:30the eye of international community? So there's no point. But it's up to them. If they want
01:39ASEAN members, then I think they should be together and then stick to the five-point consensus and
01:44we are ever-willing to assist in whatever way that we can help Myanmar.
01:50Dathut Sri, Eileen from the Associated Press. Just on the issue of Myanmar, you talk about this proposal
01:58for the special, a permanent position for the special envoy to Myanmar. Is that already something
02:04that's confirmed or it's just a proposal stage at this point?
02:07Dathut Sri, Eileen from the Associated Press. That's a proposal stage and everybody for that
02:10matter have no objection to that. But the operational, who is going to be the permanent special envoy
02:17will be discussed at some level then we will bring it back to the leaders. But basically the idea
02:23of having a permanent envoy there, I think we received a very good response from all the respective
02:30states this morning.
02:31Okay. Also, thank you. Just to follow up on the issue of Myanmar where you said all you
02:38want for the SAC is to comply with the five-point consensus and to move towards dialogue.
02:46Malaysia has taken this stance of trying to engage all sides, right? SAC, NUG. But you
02:53yourself said that there's a trust deficit. So I'm just wondering, are you getting any signals
02:59at all from the SAC that it is willing to do that? Because in the last four years, nothing has,
03:06it just refused to comply. So is there any signal that Malaysia is getting that things might change?
03:14Well, I think it's like, the participants might be the same and the other
03:20are those people, but people are not able to, we try to convince them. Because
03:23five-point consensus is also there as the signature and I think five-point
03:26consensus is acceptable to everybody. Actually, five-point consensus is nothing
03:31fantastic, because what we need to do is to have a ceasefire, an unhindered
03:36I will be going to Manapidaw again in June, not as a Malaysian foreign minister, but as
03:43chairman of ASEAN. I'm going to talk to them further. We have to explore. We have to be
03:51patient. Because the warring section has been against this other for decades. So it's not
03:58as simple as what we think. But I suppose with the recent calamity, the earthquake happened,
04:07I think everybody have come to their sense. I think that's a good opportunity. Like what
04:12happened in ASEAN last time after this, what do you call it, tsunami. Everybody come to
04:17their sense and they come and sit down and they can start talking to each other. I hope
04:23that they will happen.
04:30What do you think about the criticism that said that the ASEAN who doesn't want to
04:36be able to take care of their efforts in dealing with the conflict in Myanmar?
04:43We don't want to take care of their hands in the case of ASEAN. That's the
04:50thing I think.
04:51Based on what happened in Myanmar is the comparison of it. It's not
04:57the importance of it. It doesn't mean that we are not confined to Myanmar. They
05:01are now in a trans border crime with money laundering, such as job scams, etc.
05:11been displaced, million of people been displaced. Malaysia sendiri terpaksa menguruskan 200
05:19lebih ribu orang daripada Rohingya. Ini dah jadi masalah dalam ASEAN. Kita bukannya
05:25nak mencampuri hal ehwal dalaman mereka, tetapi dia dah menjadi sebagai isu ASEAN.
05:31Jadi itu sebabnya sebagai negara dalam ASEAN, kita bersetuju untuk kita pastikan isu Myanmar
05:38ini ditangani sebaik mungkin bersama-sama sebagai melalui ASEAN mekanism.
05:43All right.
05:45All right.
05:52All right.