Open letter from Myanmar, regional and international civil society organizations to ASEAN to End Myanmar Military’s Violence, Advance Accountability and Operationalize Cross-border Humanitarian Aid
To: ASEAN Leaders
H.E. Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Prime Minister of Brunei Darussalam
H.E. Hun Manet, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia
H.E. Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo, President of the Republic of Indonesia
H.E. Sonexay Siphandone, Prime Minister of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic
H.E. Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia
H.E. Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos, Jr., President of the Republic of the Philippines
H.E. Lawrence Wong, Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore
H.E. Anutin Charnvirakul, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand
H.E. José Manuel Ramos-Horta, President of Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
H.E. Le Minh Hung, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
CC: H.E. Duwa Lashi La, Acting President of Myanmar
24 April 2026
Subject: Open letter from Myanmar, regional and international civil society organizations to ASEAN to End Myanmar Military’s Violence, Advance Accountability and Operationalize Cross-border Humanitarian Aid
Excellencies,
We, the undersigned 201 Myanmar, regional, and international civil society organizations (CSOs), submit the following recommendations to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to address the Myanmar military-created polycrisis and to support the diverse people of Myanmar in achieving a peaceful and sustainable future grounded in federal democracy, human rights and accountability.
The following concrete actions have become increasingly urgent, as March 2026 became the deadliest month for civilians in Myanmar since the illegal coup attempt began in February 2021. In March 2026 alone, junta violence killed 518 civilians and non-combatants.
- Non-Recognition of the Junta’s Illegitimate Political Structures and entities
ASEAN must formally state that it considers null and void the junta’s immensely violent and exclusionary sham electoral process. An estimated 10.5 million voters were excluded, while another 11 million boycotted the polls. The votes cast amounted to only half of the votes in the 2020 elections, which the military sought to overturn. ASEAN must reject the legitimacy of the military-led façade government, the “parliament,” and the representatives emerging from it. In addition, ASEAN must bar junta representatives from attending all ASEAN meetings. It is not a coincidence that March 2026, the month the junta’s “parliament” convened, was the deadliest month in more than 5 years.
2. Support for Locally Led, Cross-Border Humanitarian Mechanisms
Urgent action is required to address the intensifying humanitarian crisis caused by the junta’s violence and its denial of humanitarian access to affected populations, which are concerns raised by the UN Human Rights Council. More than 3.7 million people are internally displaced, while acute food insecurity remains at catastrophic levels, affecting an estimated 12 million people in 2026. Since 2022, approximately 1,853 healthcare facilities have been attacked, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. Cooperation with the junta and its agencies has only served to worsen this crisis in regional human security.
We call on ASEAN to:
- Ensure humanitarian access initiatives that bypass the junta and its systems,
- Enable direct support to local Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Community-based Organizations (CBOs), and
- Facilitate cross-border aid delivery in consultation with and through ethnic resistance organizations (EROs), the National Unity Government (NUG) of Myanmar, and trusted CSOs, CBOs and networks.
3. Immediate Measures to Halt the Flow of Aviation Fuel and Weapons
Aerial and other attacks on civilian targets have continued unceasingly. Since the February 2021 coup attempt, there were 65,978 armed clashes and attacks against civilians, which killed 17,871 civilians in 328 townships out of 330 townships in Myanmar. The junta has carried out 9,794 aerial bombardments, including 7,330 airstrikes, 1,305 drone strikes, 820 paramotor attacks, and 339 gyrocopter assaults. These have resulted in 4,853 documented deaths and the destruction of over 1,200 civilian structures, including schools and religious sites, and countless homes.
If ASEAN is serious about reducing conflict, it needs to:
- Impose restrictions on weapons and aviation fuel supply chains, as well as the logistical arrangements that deliver the supplies enabling aerial attacks,
- Disrupt and/or interdict regional transit of weapons and aviation fuel that facilitate the junta’s airstrike capacity, and
- Ensure that no ASEAN Member State serves as a conduit for resources used in attacks against civilians.
4. Support for International Accountability Mechanisms
ASEAN Member States should actively support international justice initiatives focused on Myanmar, including the exercise of universal jurisdiction in Timor-Leste and Indonesia, to address serious violations of international law and advance accountability for atrocity crimes. This is critical in halting impunity, building public trust, and halting recurrence of these crimes. ASEAN must commit to implementing the June 2025 ILO Resolution under Article 33 of the ILO Constitution to combat forced labor linked to the conflict, including forced conscription, coerced labor in military controlled areas, and labor exploitation in scam centers.
5. Advancement of an Inclusive, Legitimate Political Process
To build confidence and engagement in a genuinely inclusive and credible political process, we call on ASEAN to:
- Ensure the ASEAN Special Envoy’s engagement and facilitation efforts are grounded in human rights, justice and accountability, as outlined by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC),
- Center democratic actors, including the NUG, SCEF, EROs, and civil society, in ASEAN’s efforts, and
- Ensure that cessation of violence and atrocities, a halt to forced conscription, and the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Myanmar, are prioritized in the Special Envoy’s engagements and efforts.
Now five years after the Myanmar military’s violent and illegal and unlawful coup attempt in 2021 and the adoption of the 5PC on 24 April 2021, ASEAN’s responses remain fundamentally inadequate to address the Myanmar crisis. Ever since Min Aung Hlaing signed the 5PC in Jakarta, the military junta has demonstrated no political will whatsoever to implement the 5PC. Instead, the junta has escalated violence with complete impunity, while exploiting diplomatic engagement to try to normalize its unlawful coup attempt and manufacture political legitimacy. Absent serious enforcement, accountability, and inclusivity, the ASEAN 5PC remains a dead letter that the Myanmar military continues to ignore as it commits ongoing atrocity crimes.
We welcome the principled stance taken by ASEAN under its previous Chair, Malaysia, in rejecting the junta’s sham electoral process and expressing concern over ongoing atrocities. These efforts mark an important step towards aligning ASEAN’s response with international human rights standards.
Now that the Philippines has assumed the 2026 ASEAN Chairmanship, we call for strengthened leadership, policy continuity, and decisive action. We urge the ASEAN Chair and Special Envoy, Ma. Theresa Lazaro, to build on this precedent by formally rejecting not only the junta’s staged elections but also the illegitimate governing structures recently established in Naypyitaw. Instead, the Philippines should focus on advancing a people-centered approach towards Myanmar that is grounded in human rights, accountability, justice, and inclusivity.
Central to this approach is the unequivocal demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, including State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint.
Excellencies,
The situation in 2026 represents a critical inflection point that directly challenges the commitments of the ASEAN to regional peace, security, and stability, as well as its legal and moral responsibility to protect the people of Myanmar as part of its commitment to people-centric ASEAN.
Following the junta’s violent, fraudulent and exclusionary sham elections, conducted between December 2025 and January 2026, it has moved to establish parliamentary structures dominated by internationally sanctioned military individuals and loyalists. This is a deliberate strategy to institutionalize military rule under the guise of “civilian governance.”
Meanwhile, Myanmar’s human security emergencies are increasingly intersecting with regional security concerns. Junta-controlled areas have become hubs for transnational criminal activities, including human trafficking and online scam operations, posing direct threats to ASEAN citizens and undermining regional stability.
We express grave concern that ASEAN’s current approach:
- Risks legitimizing the illegal military junta and its attempted rebranding under post-sham election structures, including the sham parliament and institutions dominated by military-backed actors such as the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP),
- Fails to halt the junta’s ongoing violence against civilians or advance accountability for atrocity crimes,
- Excludes democratic actors and grassroots voices in implementation of the 5PC, and
- Fails to prevent member states’ direct or indirect complicity in the junta’s continued atrocities and escalation of violence.
Ensuring the cessation of violence, as outlined in the 5PC, including the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, is not only a moral imperative but a necessary precondition for any meaningful political resolution. Without this, any claims of dialogue, reconciliation, or legitimacy remain fundamentally flawed.
As ASEAN Chair, the Philippines faces a defining moment: to stand with the people of Myanmar or to perpetuate a framework that ignores their continued suffering. If ASEAN is to remain relevant, it must move towards a genuinely people-centered approach hinged on accountability to effectively address the Myanmar crisis.
ASEAN must choose—stand with the people of Myanmar—or risk complicity in the Myanmar military’s ongoing atrocity crimes.
We call on the Philippines, as ASEAN Chair, to adopt a principled, rights-based, inclusive, and accountable approach to the Myanmar crisisin support of a federal democratic future. We stand ready to support such efforts.
For further information, please contact:
- Salai Za Uk Ling, Chin Human Rights Organization; zauk@chinhumanrights.org
- Khin Ohmar, Progressive Voice; khinohmar@progressive-voice.org • Debbie Stothard, ALTSEAN-Burma; debbie@altsean.org
- Ryan Martinez, Burma Solidarity – Philippines; aniceto.rjmartinez@gmail.com
- Mark Farmaner, Burma Campaign UK; Mark.Farmaner@burmacampaign.org.uk
Signed by 201 civil society organizations, including 23 organizations that have chosen not to disclose their names.