Human Rights Watch (HRW) has expressed concern about Cambodian PM Hun Sen’s visit to Myanmar helping to legitimize the Myanmar junta.

“PM Hun Sen’s unilateral decision as ASEAN chair to meet with Myanmar’s military leadership in Naypyitaw is an affront to the people of Myanmar who strongly oppose the visit,” said Phil Robertson, Deputy Asia Director of Human Rights Watch.

“The visit is a slap in the face of the eight other ASEAN member states who had no say in the matter despite previously deciding to halt junta political participation in ASEAN to pressure Myanmar to live up to its commitments under the Five-Point Consensus plan agreed last April on how to tackle the Myanmar crisis.

“In one single, selfish move, Hun Sen showed he’s more interested in building his own legacy than listening to the Myanmar people who are demanding ASEAN leaders also meet with their leaders elected in Myanmar’s November 2020 election. As the first state leader to meet with junta leader Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing since the February 1 military coup, Hun Sen is setting a poor example. Hun Sen’s decision to unilaterally meet, without preconditions, the leaders of an abusive military junta that has committed massacres and crimes against humanity against the people of Myanmar will only lend underserved international legitimacy to the junta, while also demoralizing those struggling to restore respect for human rights and democracy in the country.

“Hun Sen's actions may well have far-reaching consequences for ASEAN since his one-sided negotiation with the military junta could fundamentally undermine ASEAN’s already diminished credibility to mediate the crisis and seek a political solution. The whole principle of ‘ASEAN centrality’ in the international response to what’s happening in Myanmar is being placed at risk by this rash, unprincipled visit.

“ASEAN and other actors should have realized by now that the Myanmar military junta has no genuine intention to comply with ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus and that ASEAN is ill-equipped to tackle the crisis in Myanmar. A unilateral visit by Hun Sen is doomed to not yield solutions, especially if he won't meet and confer with the representatives of the people elected to parliament in the November 2020 election, such as the National Unity Government, which has the support of most elected MPs.

“The people of Myanmar want their democracy restored and their rights respected, and they will not accept any shortcuts coming from Hun Sen. The other eight ASEAN countries should publicly demand an explanation from Hun Sen, and make it clear that the majority of ASEAN states favor an approach that requires negotiations with all parties to the Myanmar conflict, not just the generals who launched the coup and led Myanmar into this unmitigated disaster of continuous conflict, violence, and rights abuses.”