ASEAN will not give up on Myanmar peace despite no progress
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) grouping will not give up trying to end violence in fellow member Myanmar even though the ruling military there has made no progress on a peace plan it agreed with the bloc 2 years ago, Indonesia said on Thursday.
Frustration has mounted among some members of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations with Myanmar and how to handle its bloody political turmoil that has raised questions about the group's effectiveness and unity.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo was forthright in his criticism, telling an ASEAN summit in the Indonesian town of Labuan Bajo that Myanmar's generals had made no progress on a five-point ASEAN peace plan.
President Joko Widodo also said human rights violations in Myanmar could not be tolerated and violence there should be halted and its people protected.
Indonesia is ASEAN chair this year and its foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, told the summit that principles of democracy and the rule of law were enshrined in the ASEAN charter.
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