Myanmar Minister ‘disappointed’ NZ engaged with military officials to Wellington, weeks before Parliament condemned them

Aung Myo Min said it was “disappointing” NZ engaged with officials from the military during an ASEAN meeting last month in Wellington.

Aung Myo Min, a Minister of Myanmar’s government in exile, has urged the Government to offer humanitarian assistance to his country, in the grip of civil war after a military coup.

The country has been torn apart by civil war since the military ousted the Government in a coup in 2021. Armed militias from Myanmar’s many ethnic and religious sects have made strong gains from the military and now control more than half the country.

Aung Myo Min said it was “disappointing” that New Zealand had engaged with officials from the military during an ASEAN meeting last month in Wellington. Myanmar was excluded from the Asean summit held in Melbourne in March, although that was between leaders rather than officials.

Weeks later, Parliament condemned the regime.

The Government has already placed a travel ban on members of the regime.

“Is disappointing for us because NZ has a travel ban to the military leaders who are the part of the crimes committed all across the country,” he said.

“Allowing the, the military representative to come and visit to NZ is quite contradictory to the travel ban,” he said.

Aung Myo Min said he had good engagement in NZ, and was able to meet MFAT officials, although he had not met Ministers in the current Government.

He attended a sitting of Parliament on Thursday at which Foreign Minister Winston Peters moved a motion to condemn the “military regime’s ongoing atrocities and human rights violations and abuses” and called for “the restoration of democracy”.

The motion also wedded Parliament to support the “fundamental role of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in resolving the crisis by implementation of its Five-Point Consensus, including through the efforts of the Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair”.

Aung Myo Min warned that ASEAN, the most powerful international organisation in the region, was not able to resolve the conflict with the “five point consensus”.

“It’s not enough. ASEAN is not strong enough to convince the military even respect the five point consensus. The violence continues against civilians,” he said.

“The military fail to respect even the five points. ASEAN should take stronger action, not [just] by ASEAN itself but in collaboration with other international [agencies] to stop economic and financial supplies to the military,” he said.

The five points were agreed in 2021:

• An immediate cessation of violence.
• Dialogue among the parties.
• A special envoy from ASEAN to facilitate mediation.
• Humanitarian assistance.
• The envoy must visit Myanmar.

Aung Myo Min wants to see sanctions on the regime to strangle it of supplies, particularly aviation fuel, which powers the jets the regime is using to bombard the opposition.

Much of that fuel comes from Russia, which NZ has already placed under heavy sanctions as a result of legislation passed in 2022.

Aung Myo Min said NZ could assist the country through humanitarian aid and assisting the effort to bring the regime to justice. NZ has contributed to efforts to bring to justice those who have allegedly committed war crimes in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Thomas Coughlan is Deputy Political Editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and has worked in the press gallery since 2018.