Jakarta. The 42nd ASEAN Summit officially began on Wednesday morning in the fishing town of Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, with Myanmar’s seat left vacant as expected. 

Myanmar to this day is still a member of the Southeast Asian bloc. However, the lack of progress in the five-point peace plan has caused ASEAN to keep the Myanmar junta out of its high-level summits. 

The Labuan Bajo meeting took place just a few days after a gunfight during one of ASEAN’s attempts to deliver humanitarian assistance in Myanmar. The AHA Centre —the group’s coordinating body for humanitarian aid— and an ASEAN monitoring team were making this delivery. AFP reported that the convoy had Indonesian and Singaporean diplomats. The two Indonesian diplomats who were in the vehicles are in good condition. 

ASEAN on Wednesday issued a leaders’ statement condemning the attack on the humanitarian convoy. “We condemned the attack and underlined that the perpetrators must be held accountable,” the statement reads.

The regional grouping is also sticking to the five-point consensus, which calls for cessation of violence, as its strategy to bring peace to Myanmar. And it does not seem to be changing its approach anytime soon. However, aside from the recent attack on the humanitarian aid convoy, more civilians continue to become victims of violence in Myanmar. 

According to the human rights organization Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a total of 3,486 people, including pro-democracy activists, have been killed in the military crackdowns since the coup on Feb. 1, 2021.

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