Malaysia calls for extension of Myanmar quake truce

Malaysia called on Sunday for the extension and expansion of a post-earthquake ceasefire in Myanmar, as it ramped up calls for the long-awaited implementation of a five-point peace plan.

The ruling military junta initially declared a truce in the many-sided civil war after a huge quake in late March killed nearly 3,800 and left tens of thousands homeless.

That agreement, which has been extended before, is due to expire at the end of May -- though conflict monitors say fighting and junta airstrikes have continued throughout.

At a meeting of regional foreign ministers on Sunday, Malaysia’s Mohamad Hasan “proposed the extension and expansion of ceasefires beyond the currently affected zones”, a statement said.

“We call on the stakeholders in Myanmar to cease hostilities, and to extend and expand the ceasefire, to facilitate the long and difficult path towards recovery, and ease the suffering of the people of Myanmar,” Mohamad said in his opening remarks.

The United Nations and independent conflict monitors say the junta has continued its campaign of aerial bombardment despite the ceasefire.

Numerous anti-coup and ethnic armed groups have made their own pledges to pause hostilities.

However some residents in eastern Myanmar said they have been displaced as anti-coup forces besieged junta-held towns.

More than 6,600 people have been killed since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, and millions displaced.

Malaysia currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with leaders due to meet at a summit in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.

The bloc has led so far fruitless diplomatic efforts to end Myanmar’s conflict since the junta staged a coup deposing civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.

ASEAN has struggled to implement the five-point peace plan agreed by all bloc leaders in April 2021.

As a result junta officials have been barred from ASEAN summits over lack of progress on the deal.

“One thing for sure that we agreed is that Myanmar’s government must comply with the five points consensus which they themselves agreed on as one of the signatories,” Mohamad said later on Sunday.

He stressed two of the most important points were an immediate halt to hostilities, and the appointment of a special envoy to visit Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim met Myanmar’s junta leader Min Aung Hlaing in Bangkok in April and urged him to respect the truce.

That followed an earlier visit by Mohamad and Thai counterpart Maris Sangiampongsa to Naypyidaw as part of ASEAN’s efforts to assess humanitarian needs and aid delivery to those affected by the earthquake.

Mohamad told reporters Sunday he would visit Naypyidaw in an ASEAN capacity in June.

“We have to explore (the issue) with patience because the warring sections have been against each other for decades,” Mohamad said.

Myanmar’s junta has announced plans to hold an election around the end of the year.

But the opposition has urged the public and political parties to boycott any poll organised by the military government.

Mohamad said Sunday there was “no point” in having an election if there was only partial participation by the people.

Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency said on Friday it fears that 427 Rohingya fleeing Myanmar and a refugee camp in Bangladesh may have died at sea this month.

UNHCR said it has collected reports from family members and others of two separate boat tragedies off the coast of Myanmar in May. It acknowledged that details remained unclear but that enough information has been collected and verified to bring the incidents to light publicly.

A first boat that left from a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, and traveled to Rakhine State in neighboring Myanmar to pick up more people sank on May 9, with only 66 survivors among a total of 267 people on board, UNHCR said.

Agencies