JAKARTA: Malaysia has expressed its disappointment at the continuous instability in Myanmar.
During the retreat session at the 43rd Asean Summit and Related Summits, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Asean needed to tackle the issue in Myanmar based on the regional bloc's framework while roping in the United Nations.
He said the implementation of the Five Point Consensus (5PC) in Myanmar was not as what Asean members and Malaysia hoped it would be.
"Malaysia is disappointed with the lack of progress in the implementation of the 5PC, and continued instability in Myanmar.
"Asean needs to tackle the Myanmar issue based on its coordinated approach, and for Asean to make use of its dialogue partner, the United Nations," he said.
Anwar also said Malaysia could not sit by as atrocities continue against innocent people.
He said the issue of refugees from regions in Myanmar was also required attention.
"Now, (the number) has exceeded 200,000 refugees. And this is dealing with a country that refuses to engage and refuses to take the people back."
"They continue to rule in impunity. I can understand if there are violent elements. But many of them are just innocent victims."
On the Asean-Indo-Pacific Forum, which is in its flagship session today, Anwar said dialogue partners in the forum should adhere to Asean's concepts of neutrality.
"Instead of using the forum to insist on their own agenda, we should make it clear from the beginning that they should respect the Asean sense of neutrality, and that they do not use this forum to force their opinions outside Asean's scope and parameters," he said.