(3) End all engagements with the military junta immediately and engage formally with the legitimate representatives of Myanmar. If ASEAN genuinely wishes to help the Myanmar people achieve sustainable “peace, stability, [and] democracy,”31 ASEAN and its member states must cease all engagements with and support of the military junta, as any engagement only enables the junta to continue its violence against the people and deepens ASEAN’s complicity in the junta’s international crimes. ASEAN must also completely ban all junta representatives from and disallow the junta any access to ASEAN’s platforms. ASEAN must instead align with the Myanmar people’s efforts to build a new, inclusive federal democratic Myanmar. In this regard, Malaysia—as the incoming Chair of ASEAN for 2025—must invite the NUG to take Myanmar’s seat. In tandem, ASEAN must ensure that it is formally engaging—on equal terms—with Myanmar’s democracy stakeholders and legitimate representatives, including the NUG, the NUCC, EROs, and federal units, including but not limited to the Interim Executive Council of Karenni State (IEC), the Chinland Council, and the Mon State Federal Council (MSFC). (4) Publicly denounce and end all support for, or plans to support, the junta’s planned sham election. The junta has no mandate nor legitimacy to conduct any election: Firstly, the people of Myanmar nationwide have categorically rejected, and continued to reject, the junta since its illegal coup attempt. Secondly, the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw— Myanmar’s elected representatives from the 2020 general election—has already declared the 2008 constitution null and void following the junta’s illegal coup attempt.32 In addition, throughout 2024 the junta has lost substantial territorial and effective control across the country.33 Furthermore, in October 2024, groups of junta personnel—including soldiers, police, and militia armed with guns—intimidated locals into participating in its sham census in areas under its control.34 ASEAN must prove that it is capable of and committed to abiding by its own Charter by adhering to the principles of democracy and rule of law by publicly denouncing the junta’s planned sham election. If ASEAN fails to do so, ASEAN will have to take full responsibility for the military junta’s continued violence and atrocity crimes against the Myanmar people. (5) Provide humanitarian aid for IDPs in collaboration with legitimate stakeholders and civil society through cross-border channels. The cross-border provision of humanitarian aid must not involve the military junta or any of its auxiliaries, including the Myanmar Red Cross Society. ASEAN must finally accept the reality that aid through or in collaboration with the junta cannot and will not reach the communities in direst need, but aid reaching these communities has been, and continues to be, possible through locally led cross-border channels. Therefore, to reach IDPs and save lives, aid must be provided through cross-border channels, in collaboration with Myanmar’s legitimate stakeholders, and directed to local civil society organizations, community-based organizations, and other trusted local frontline responders. This humanitarian assistance must also be gender responsive. 31 32 Ibid. at para. 4. “ဖွဲ$စည်းပံအ + ေြခခံဥပေဒ (၂၀၀၈ ခ+5စ 6 )် ကိ+ အ9ပီးသတ် ဖျက်သမ ိ ်းေ?ကာင်း ေ?ကညာြခင်း,” Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, 31 March 2021, https://crphmyanmar.org/publications/statements/crph3103212/. 33 Special Advisory Council for Myanmar, supra note 25. 34 Aung Zay, “Myanmar junta launches pre-election census one day earlier than announced,” Myanmar Now, 1 October 2024, https://myanmar-now.org/en/news/myanmar-junta-launches-pre-election-census-one-day-earlier-thanannounced/; Grant Peck, “Myanmar’s military government begins a census seen as a way to gather information about opponents,” Associated Press, 2 October 2024, https://apnews.com/article/myanmar-census-civil-war-military-resistanceeafba6e479c59fb926d31a10d4b663ca. 6