Ethnic Armed Organizations Reject Myanmar Junta Peace Talk Bid – The Diplomat

ASEAN Beat | Politics | Southeast Asia

Key ethnic armed teams in Myanmar have unsurprisingly rejected a proposal by the nation’s navy junta to participate in a brand new spherical of peace talks.

In accordance with a report in The Irrawaddy yesterday, representatives from a variety of distinguished ethnic armed teams rejected junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing’s current supply to helm a brand new spherical of negotiations geared toward ending the long-running conflicts. The teams talked about by The Irrawaddy included the Karenni Nationwide Progressive Get together, Karen Nationwide Union, Kachin Independence Military, Chin Nationwide Entrance.

For many years, ethnic minority teams have fought for independence or higher autonomy from the central state. However the conflicts have flared up because the navy coup of February 2021. Within the 16 months since, these ethnic armed teams have entered right into a free alliance with a raft of recent civilian militias, generally known as Folks’s Protection Forces (PDFs), which have been shaped to oppose navy rule. The makes an attempt of the safety forces to quash the PDFs have introduced violent battle to areas of central Myanmar that haven’t seen battle for a few years.

In a short, three-minute broadcast on state tv on Friday, Min Aung Hlaing stated that he desires to fulfill the leaders of all ethnic armed teams in individual to barter an finish to armed battle throughout the nation this 12 months, to ensure that Myanmar’s individuals “to benefit from the essence of peace and growth,” the Related Press reported.

The junta chief stated he desires to fulfill with them in individual, and that each chief may carry two different members with them. He appealed to the ethnic armed teams to submit names of individuals by Could 9, and stated a date could be set for the precise talks after negotiations. “I urge all of you to collaborate for the good thing about all of the individuals of the Union,” Min Aung Hlaing stated.

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Min Aung Hlaing’s supply of peace talks is a reasonably clear try and cleave off a variety of ethnic armed teams from the PDFs and the broader civilian resistance that they signify.

The obvious signal is that the invitation for peace talks excludes maybe the chief social gathering to the battle with the junta: the shadow Nationwide Unity Authorities (NUG) and the PDFs with which it’s loosely aligned. The junta has earlier derided these teams as “terrorists,” and eventually month’s Armed Forces Day parade, Min Aung Hlaing pledged to “annihilate” the civilian militias which might be waging a nationwide armed wrestle towards the navy administration.

As such, it’s unsurprising that these ethnic armed teams most against the navy coup and unlikely to countenance any return to the negotiating desk – one thing that yielded little even within the years of reform and opening between 2011 and 2021, through which the navy stepped again from direct involvement in politics. As Col. Naw Bu of the Kachin Independence Military advised The Irrawaddy, “They’ve held talks with the [ethnic armed organizations] for greater than 70 years and there have been by no means good outcomes. And there received’t be good outcomes this time too.”

About the very best that the junta can count on is the participation of some peripheral ethnic armed teams, or bigger mercenary teams just like the United Wa State Military, which have lengthy deserted any ethnonationalist political agenda in favor of income technology and preservation of their profitable de facto independence. For sure, no matter comes out of Min Aung Hlaing’s invitation – an indication of accelerating desperation at a time of rising armed resistance – will do little to advance an answer to Myanmar’s present interlocking.