MALAYSIA'S RESPONSE TO MYANMAR QUAKE REFLECTS ASEAN'S DUTY TO PROTECT HUMAN SECURITY -- ANALYST
By Nabilah Saleh
KUALA LUMPUR, March 29 (Bernama) -- Malaysia’s swift decision to deploy a humanitarian team to Myanmar underscores its responsibility as the ASEAN Chair for 2025 and sets a timely example of the bloc’s commitment to protecting human security amid the ongoing crisis triggered by a powerful earthquake.
Security and International Relations Analyst at the University of Malaya (UM), Collins Chong Yew Keat, said Malaysia’s move signals the kind of leadership expected of ASEAN at a time when both urgency and solidarity are needed.
“The early coordination efforts and the leadership shown to have the ASEAN context and unity of collective aid projection and support are seen as the needed steps and leadership authority taken as the ASEAN Chair, and being meant as both a message of goodwill to the current junta leadership in Myanmar, as well as serving as the needed new push to showcase the seriousness and readiness of ASEAN as a whole in supporting in this time of need,” he told Bernama.
Collins added that the deployment of the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) teams and ASEAN’s collective coordination strategy were not merely tactical but carried long-term significance.
“Despite the consistent stern stance taken by ASEAN on the Myanmar conflict and in pushing the junta to change its course, ASEAN always stands ready and, Malaysia especially, has always been supportive in helping the causes of the Myanmar people and society,” he added.
The latest update from Myanmar’s State Administration Council (SAC) Information Team reported that the devastating earthquake has claimed 1,002 lives, injured 2,376 people, and left 30 missing.
Many buildings were damaged, and rescue operations are underway, international media reported.
On the regional level, Chong pointed out that the ongoing humanitarian response to the Myanmar earthquake reflects the balancing act by ASEAN member states, as each country navigates its own foreign policy interests while striving to maintain regional peace and stability.
He said the humanitarian pledges by Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore to date illustrate this delicate balance, as they seek to ensure that peace is preserved and potential fallout from the disaster is contained.
“This signals that all individual ASEAN members have their own foreign policy calculations and interests in seeing the best returns for their own countries and also for ASEAN in the wider picture, as all seek to ensure that peace and stability are maintained and that all potential fallout are contained,” he said.
Chong added that Malaysia’s action also reaffirms ASEAN’s balanced position towards the opposition National Unity Government (NUG), upholding the bloc’s commitment to human rights and human security despite its principle of non-interference.
He said the disaster might offer a chance to reset the stalled peace process and pave the way for practical cooperation.
“This is done through meticulous policy balancing, and although the Five-Point Consensus has been going nowhere for years now, ASEAN will not give up hope on the situation in Myanmar being stabilised,” he said.
“This disaster will present a new opening for talks to be moulded in a different supportive setting, and the pressure is on the junta to show its open card and to practice restraint and to channel all focus on the search and rescue efforts,” he added.
Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore have also pledged support, with Malaysia set to deploy a 50-member Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) team through NADMA to Yangon on Sunday, Singapore readying its Operation Lionheart contingent for urban search and rescue and disaster relief operations, and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto extending condolences and pledging Indonesia’s readiness to assist recovery efforts in both Myanmar and Thailand.
Meanwhile, ASEAN foreign ministers, in a recent statement, expressed condolences to the victims and communities affected by the earthquake in Myanmar and Thailand, reaffirming the bloc’s readiness to mobilise humanitarian assistance, including the ASEAN-Emergency Response and Assessment Team (ERAT), the Disaster Emergency Logistics System for ASEAN (DELSA), and the Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams.
“ASEAN affirms its solidarity and will work closely to coordinate humanitarian assistance, support and facilitate relief operations, and ensure a timely and effective humanitarian response with the assistance of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre),” the statement said.
-- BERNAMA
