Amid ongoing suffering and conflict in Myanmar, leaders of Southeast Asian countries gathered for the ASEAN Summit appeal to all the nation’s parties “to expand a temporary ceasefire” and “to build trust towards convening an inclusive dialogue.”
By Deborah Castellano Lubov
Leaders of Southeast Asian countries on Tuesday urged all parties in conflict-torn Myanmar to expand a temporary ceasefire and build trust towards convening an inclusive dialogue.
They did so during the 46th Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a regional organization comprised of ten Southeast Asian countries, with the primary goals of promoting economic and security cooperation among its member states.
The member countries of ASEAN are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The 46th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, 26-27 May, concluded Tuesday with discussions focused on regional economic cooperation, efforts to mediate the ongoing crisis in Myanmar, and addressing the impact of U.S. tariffs on ASEAN nations.
In a statement, the ASEAN leaders wrote, “We encouraged all relevant stakeholders in Myanmar to build trust towards convening an inclusive national dialogue by continuing to reach out to parties concerned in a sustainable manner, with the aim of achieving a durable peaceful resolution to the crisis.”
Meanwhile, despite dramatic suffering, the faithful in Myanmar maintain faith and hope, reports the Vatican’s Fides news agency.
Father Stephen Chit Thein, National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Myanmar, spoke to the agency, observing, “The country is divided.”
For example, where he lives in Yangon, he said, the situation is quite calm, and in the big cities in the central part of the country, “people’s lives continue, and even our liturgies and pastoral activities can proceed in churches.”
Even if “there is always a curfew” and they “live with a series of restrictions due to the ongoing conflict in the country,” he said, they try to “live our faith always, with our hearts turned towards the mission and those who suffer.”
Yet, the situation, he lamented, “is very different” in the peripheral areas of the country, “in the border regions,” where he acknowledged, “there is still ongoing fighting,” “great suffering” and “displacement.”
In addition to the conflict, he remembered the country still faces further hardship from the dramatic 28 March earthquake, which claimed more than 3,000 lives and caused massive destruction.
“We are living in a time of great trial, which involves the entire Burmese people,” he said, but “our hope, as the special theme of this Jubilee Year reminds us,” he underscored, “is grounded and rooted in Christ, who never disappoints and never abandons us.”
“This conviction,” Father Stephen reassured, “is deeply present in the suffering population of Myanmar.”
