Malaysia calls for Myanmar truce extension

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia on May 25 called for the extension and expansion of a post-earthquake ceasefire in Myanmar due to run out at the end of May, despite ongoing fighting calling into question its effectiveness.

The ruling military junta initially declared a truce in the many-sided civil war after a huge quake in late March killed nearly 3,800 and left tens of thousands homeless.

The truce has been extended before, although conflict monitors say fighting has continued, including regular junta air strikes.

At a meeting of regional foreign ministers on May 25, Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan “proposed the extension and expansion of ceasefires beyond the currently affected zones”, a statement said.

“We call on the stakeholders in Myanmar to cease hostilities, and to extend and expand the ceasefire, to facilitate the long and difficult path towards recovery, and ease the suffering of the people of Myanmar,” he said in his opening remarks.

Malaysia currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the 10-country Asean.

The bloc has led so far fruitless diplomatic efforts to end Myanmar’s conflict since the junta staged a coup, deposing civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.

Asean has struggled to implement a five-point peace plan agreed by all bloc leaders, including the junta, in April 2021.

Junta officials have been barred from Asean summits over lack of progress on a peace deal.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim met Myanmar’s junta leader Min Aung Hlaing in Bangkok in April and urged him to respect the truce.

The United Nations and independent conflict monitors say the junta has continued its campaign of aerial bombardment despite the armistice.

In mid-May, witnesses said a junta air strike hit a school near the quake’s epicentre in Sagaing region, killing 22 people, including 20 children.

Numerous anti-coup and ethnic