Civil Society Position Paper Addressing ASEAN’s Goal of a “Myanmar-Owned and -Led Solution” Summary of Recommendations (1) Move beyond the Five-Point Consensus to achieve a Myanmar people-led and peoplecentered solution to the crisis in Myanmar. ASEAN’s “Myanmar-owned and -led” approach must be backed by genuine political will that aligns with and supports the collective aspirations of the people of Myanmar. (2) Cease all pressure on Myanmar’s revolutionary forces and civil society to join any processes to engage or compromise with the illegitimate military junta, and support a locally led political consultation process that entirely excludes the junta. (3) End all engagements, including economic and military engagements, with the military junta, and engage formally with the legitimate representatives of Myanmar. (4) Publicly denounce and end all support for, or plans to support, the military junta’s sham election. (5) Provide humanitarian aid for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in collaboration with legitimate stakeholders and civil society groups through cross-border channels. (6) Join the ongoing international and Myanmar people’s efforts to hold the Myanmar military accountable under international law for its commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Analysis of ASEAN Leaders’ Recent Decision on the Five-Point Consensus ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus (5PC) has proven extremely harmful to the Myanmar people in its futile attempt to address the junta-caused crisis in Myanmar. Nevertheless, on 9 October 2024, ASEAN leaders announced their decision to continue with this failed approach. This decision blatantly ignores the repeated and united calls of the Myanmar people for ASEAN to move beyond the 5PC and support the people’s collective aspirations to fully dismantle the military and establish an inclusive federal democracy. Despite claims of “ASEAN’s commitment to assisting Myanmar in finding a peaceful and durable solution to the ongoing crisis,”1 ASEAN’s decision to “[m]aintain the 5PC as the main reference to address the political crisis in Myanmar”2 will surely fail “to achieve an inclusive and durable peaceful resolution that is Myanmar-owned and -led”3 as long as the people’s calls and aspirations go unsupported. Since the creation of the 5PC, not only has ASEAN utterly failed to stop the military junta’s violence and save people’s lives, but it has also become complicit in the junta’s crimes against the people. By reaffirming their sole reliance on the failed 5PC, in spite of the junta’s blatant disregard thereof, ASEAN leaders are fueling the junta’s violence and further abandoning the Myanmar people to be terrorized, bombed, tortured, and murdered with complete impunity by the military junta. “ASEAN Leaders’ Review and Decision on the Implementation of the Five-Point Consensus,” ASEAN, para. 3, 9 October 2024, https://asean.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/4-Final_Review-and-Decision-of-the-ASEAN-LEADERS-on-the-5PC2024.pdf. 2 Ibid. at para. 12. 3 Ibid. 1 1