administrations, law enforcement, and the provision of public services, such as in Karenni State—with the Federal Democracy Charter as the guiding framework for a new Myanmar. Despite ASEAN’s decision to “[a]dvance the safe, effective, and transparent delivery of ASEAN humanitarian assistance without discrimination,”26 any continued efforts to provide aid through the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre) will only further exacerbate humanitarian needs on the ground. This is because, firstly, the AHA Centre lacks the mandate and capacities to address the junta-caused crisis in Myanmar, and, secondly, ASEAN continues to engage with the military junta—the very perpetrator of the humanitarian crisis—through the AHA Centre to deliver aid. In particular, the ongoing presence of the junta-controlled Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement on the AHA Centre’s Governing Board allows the military junta to “exercise the overall direction [and] control” of any aid distributed through the AHA Centre.27 Ultimately, any partnership between the AHA Centre and the military junta will continue not only to enable the junta’s terror campaign, including its weaponization of aid, but also to deepen ASEAN’s complicity in the junta’s ongoing atrocity crimes. Recommendations to ASEAN and its Member States (1) Move beyond the dead-on-arrival 5PC to achieve a solution that is truly Myanmar-owned and -led. Since the birth of the 5PC, the junta has actively disregarded the 5PC through its repeated commission of atrocity crimes. Meanwhile, the people have lost all trust in ASEAN because of its horrific failure to address Myanmar’s crisis and save lives. As a result, it is beyond clear that the 5PC can never “be implemented in its entirety,”28 making ASEAN’s decision void of meaning. Going forward, any efforts by ASEAN “to help the people of Myanmar to achieve an inclusive and durable peaceful resolution that is Myanmar-owned and -led” 29 must not be empty rhetoric or lip service to the Myanmar people. These efforts must be truly meaningful and driven by genuine political will to support the vision, aspirations, and well-being of the Myanmar people. ASEAN must unequivocally support the Myanmar people’s goals to fully dismantle the military and establish an inclusive federal democracy. (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. For a truly “Myanmar-owned and -led” solution, ASEAN must not exert any pressure on Myanmar’s revolutionary forces and civil society to take part in processes to engage or compromise with the military junta. Instead, ASEAN must support the revolutionary forces and civil society, including the people’s legitimate representatives, to lead the way and shape the process towards “an inclusive and durable peaceful resolution”30 and the rebuilding of Myanmar. ASEAN must follow and support the Myanmar people’s leadership and provide a safe and enabling platform and environment for Myanmar’s legitimate democracy stakeholders to talk—without any involvement of the junta. The complete exclusion of the junta is the only way to ensure robust and meaningful consultation and participation of Myanmar’s civil society and legitimate democracy stakeholders in this process. ASEAN, supra note 1, para. 18. “Great Expectations: Analysis of the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management,” Progressive Voice & FORUM-ASIA, 4 August 2021, https://progressivevoicemyanmar.org/2021/08/04/great-expectationsanalysis-of-the-asean-coordinating-center-for-humanitarian-assistance-on-disaster-management/. 28 ASEAN, supra note 1, para. 12. 29 Ibid. 30 Ibid. 26 27 5