APHR Urges ASEAN Chair and Malaysian Prime Minister to Champion Inclusive Peace in Myanmar During Meeting with President Xi

Jakarta, 14 April 2025 – The ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) has issued an open letter yesterday to Malaysian Prime Minister and 2025 ASEAN Chair, H.E. Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, urging him to use his upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on 15 April 2025 to advocate for a principled, inclusive, and rights-based approach to the crisis in Myanmar.

The letter builds on the outcomes of recent APHR-led engagements—including the Stakeholder Consultation on Myanmar Democratization (February, Chiang Mai), the Roundtable Discussion on Women’s Role in the Peace Process (March, Bangkok), and the Thai Parliament Conference on Peace and Security (March, Bangkok). These consultations reflect a growing regional consensus: resolving the Myanmar crisis requires meaningful engagement with all democratic stakeholders.

APHR calls on Prime Minister Anwar to use his leadership to:

• Encourage China to support inclusive political dialogue that involves the National Unity Government (NUG), ethnic resistance organizations, and civil society, not just the military junta.
• Urge an immediate halt to arms transfers and financial flows that have enabled the junta’s campaign of violence and repression, in direct contravention of international humanitarian norms.
• Engage directly with Myanmar’s democratic resistance, including women and ethnic political leaders, as a demonstration of ASEAN’s commitment to people-centered and inclusive peacebuilding.

The letter also raises alarm over continued arms transfers—some reportedly linked to Chinese entities—which have sustained the junta’s operations and exacerbated mass displacement across Myanmar.

In issuing the letter, APHR emphasized that regional peace cannot be achieved through appeasement of a regime responsible for war crimes and mass atrocities. Upholding ASEAN’s credibility and future relevance depends on political courage and moral clarity.

APHR further acknowledges Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s long-standing reformist legacy and calls on Malaysia to lead ASEAN in embracing a bolder, more principled direction.

As Southeast Asia confronts one of the most urgent democratic crises in its history, Malaysia has a critical opportunity to steer the region away from complicity and toward credibility—by standing with the people of Myanmar, rejecting military impunity, and championing an inclusive path to peace grounded in justice, human rights, and democratic legitimacy.

Read the open letter here.