DILI, 07 september 2023 (TATOLI) – The President of the Republic, José Ramos Horta said Timor-Leste is committed to working closely with ASEAN member States to find solutions to the Myanmar crisis.
“We will work with ASEAN partners to assist ASEAN in addressing the problems of Myanmar but within ASEAN and not outside Asia,” Horta told Al Jazeera, on wednesday.
Horta said that ASEAN leaders will be able to stabilize Myanmar, saying that ending the crisis is in the interests of the people of Burma.
“The Myanmar military is not winning this war. They control only 30 percent of the country. Twenty years ago the fight was between the ethnic national armies and the army of Myanmar. Today, the entire people of Myanmar are against the Myanmar junta. So they are not going to win this war,” Horta said.
He said the military of Myanmar seems not to realize the enormous harm they are doing to their own country and their people: “They are doing enormous harm to the credibility of ASEAN.”
The Head of State said Timor-Leste cannot blame ASEAN for failures in persuading the military to respect the democratic rights of the people of Burma.
Myanmar has been experiencing political turmoil for years as divisions deepened in february 2021 as the country’s elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi was detained and ousted in a military coup.
Since the coup in 2021, many villages have been destroyed due to fighting between the military and armed ethnic groups.
It is estimated that 20,000 civilians have fled to neighboring countries like Thailand to escape the violence and more than 4,000 people have been killed, according to Al Jazeera.
Myanmar election was scheduled for this month, but the military junta postponed it due to the violence that continues to take place in the country.
Timor-Leste is currently working hard with ASEAN partners to implement the roadmap that was adopted in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia, by ASEAN leaders to join the bloc in 2025.
“We will join the bloc by 2025. This will give us two years to work hard to reach a milestone laid out in the roadmap,” Horta said.
Related News:https://en.tatoli.tl/2023/08/03/gusmao-calls-on-asean-leaders-to-find-solution-to-end-myanmar-crisis/17/
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges
