134 former and current parliamentarians from Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, and Timor Leste signed an open letter calling on ASEAN and its member states to demand the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners detained by the Myanmar junta.

ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) expresses grave concerns over the absence of actionable solutions to address the crisis in Myanmar following the 48th ASEAN Summit in Cebu where the bloc, once again, reaffirmed its Five-Point Consensus.

When ASEAN, led by Malaysia and pressured by Cambodia, pushed to finalize the Terms of Reference (TOR) for establishing a formal ASEAN Observer Team (AOT) to monitor the fragile ceasefire along the Thai-Cambodian border, the government in Bangkok responded with hesitation. Senior officials and military leaders spoke in unison that the Interim Observer Team (IOT), comprising ASEAN military attachés already stationed in Bangkok, was deemed sufficient. No urgent need existed to send real observers from ASEAN capitals. This reluctance illustrates a deeper sovereignty paradox in Thai foreign policy. While Thailand embraces global norms in principle, it consistently resists international participation in matters it regards as domestic.

Two days before the 46th ASEAN Summit began, civil society organizations in ASEAN held a parallel forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The Myanmar military junta and the Russian Federation have held planning meetings to co-host joint military exercises to counter terrorism in ASEAN with the reported attendance of Thai military representatives, despite a boycott by the United States and other Asian countries since 2022.

Thailand Deputy Prime Minister Don Pramudwinai’s decision to push through with “informal” meetings with the illegal Myanmar military junta despite widespread criticism and condemnation is a betrayal of the Myanmar people and an affront to ASEAN unity, Southeast Asian lawmakers said today.

<p>Despite Thailand&#39;s long-standing commitment to a policy of <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/documents/publication/wcms_099886.pdf">Education for All (EFA)</a> which allows stateless and migrant children to attend public schools, the children of illegal and impoverished Cambodian labourers are still being denied an education.</p>

<p>Plans for the upcoming Southeast Asia Games (SEA Games), scheduled to be held in Vietnam on 12-23 May after 4 months of delays, offer insight into how Southeast Asian nations will find their way back to normal after years of struggling with the Covid-19 pandemic.</p>

<p>Eun Hong Park, a professor at Sungkonghoe University, emphasizes that most countries with implicit alliances with Myanmar`s military have non-liberal governance. Referring to the post-coup phase on &quot;Tatmadaw-democratic camp-international community,&quot; He argues that Myanmar`s &quot;Spring Revolution&quot; can become an opportunity to create &quot;new Asian values.&quot;</p>

<p>ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) called on ASEAN to take urgent actions after the Office of the United Nations&nbsp;High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) submitted a report to the UN Human Rights Council which found that the Myanmar military has committed human rights abuses that&nbsp;may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.</p>

<p>Khoukham Keomanivong, a UN-recognised Lao political refugee living in Thailand who was arrested last Saturday (29 January), was released on bail but restricted from traveling, Benarnews reported on 2 February.</p>