For this regional bloc to have a meaningful future, it must recommit to advancing human rights
By Benedict Rogers in UCA News
It is no coincidence that Timor-Leste’s accession to the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is under threat by a brutal dictatorship: the criminal military regime that illegally occupies Myanmar.
But it would be the ultimate injustice — and irony — if one of the world’s most cruel and illegitimate dictatorships successfully barred one of the region’s most vibrant young democracies from acceding to the regional bloc.
Timor-Leste became an independent nation in 2002, after 24 years of brutal Indonesian occupation. It has since proven to be a successful multi-party democracy committed to championing the values of human rights and freedom that underpinned its own struggle for liberation.
Myanmar’s ruling military junta, on the other hand, seized power in a coup four years ago, reversing a decade of political reforms supporting a nascent, fragile democracy.
The coup plunged the country yet again into an era of intense civil war and repression, resulting in untold deaths, arbitrary arrests and detention, the displacement of at least four million people, and the destruction of more than 100,000 homes, schools, hospitals, and places of worship.
The country’s democratically elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who turned 80 last month, is one of more than 22,000 political prisoners in jail in Myanmar today.
It is precisely this clash of values that reportedly led Myanmar’s junta to officially inform ASEAN’s current chair, Malaysia, of its opposition to Timor-Leste’s membership application, accusing Timor-Leste of failing to adhere to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of member states as set out in the ASEAN Charter.
The generals cite repeated engagement by the government of Timor-Leste with entities currently opposing or fighting the junta, such as the legitimate National Unity Government (NUG), which comprises parliamentarians elected in 2020 and representatives of the ethnic nationalities.
Although leaders at an earlier summit in May agreed in principle to Timor-Leste’s admission, procedural steps must be completed ahead of the group’s October summit. Now, Myanmar is urging the ASEAN chair and Secretariat to “suspend all related procedural considerations until Timor-Leste revises its approach and demonstrates a clear commitment to rectifying its policy towards Myanmar.”
However, Timor-Leste has support from other ASEAN countries, including Indonesia.
“During the recent ASEAN Summit [in May 2025], it was decided that its full membership will be formalized at the upcoming summit,” the Indonesian Foreign Ministry’s Director General for ASEAN Cooperation, Sidharto R. Suryodipuro, said, confirming its expectation that the group will finalize the accession in October.
Acknowledging that Timor-Leste completed the required procedural steps since first applying for membership in 2011, he added that if Myanmar objects, it must make its position clear to all ASEAN member states. “We have not discussed or heard it yet from the Myanmar envoy,” he noted.
Under the ASEAN Charter, the accession of a new member state requires unanimity among existing member states. Thus, if Myanmar persists in its objections, Timor-Leste’s future within the bloc is in doubt. Yet it would be a shabby iniquity if, despite having the support of all other members, including its former oppressor, Indonesia, an illegal junta with no democratic legitimacy, blocked Timor-Leste’s membership.
So, what should ASEAN do?
Of course, unlike some other regional blocs — such as the European Union — ASEAN does not require members to be human rights-respecting democracies. Indeed, of its current ten members, only five can be said to have some form of democratically elected government, while the other five include authoritarian and repressive regimes.
Nevertheless, in 2009, ASEAN established its Inter-Governmental Human Rights Commission and adopted a Human Rights Declaration in 2012. It is overwhelmingly clear that Timor-Leste upholds the principles set out in this declaration, while Myanmar flagrantly violates them on a daily, widespread, and systematic basis.
The ASEAN Charter has no mechanism for the expulsion or even suspension of member states. ASEAN should consider introducing such a procedure, with a view to using it against Myanmar’s junta.
Currently, the most the Charter allows for is to block member states’ participation in meetings — a measure already taken against the junta. Since the ASEAN summit in May 2021, the bloc has barred Myanmar junta representatives from high-level meetings.
Despite initially agreeing to the “Five Point Consensus” regional peace plan, the junta has consistently undermined this plan, making a mockery of ASEAN’s attempts to resolve the crisis.
Therefore, if it comes to a choice, ASEAN should do the right thing: suspend Myanmar’s participation and welcome Timor-Leste with open arms.
If Myanmar’s generals are able to block new members simply because they speak out against atrocities, then they do not deserve a seat at the summit table in Kuala Lumpur.
For ASEAN to have a meaningful future, it must recommit to advancing human rights and fundamental freedoms — and be far more robust when member states violate them.
This article was originally published in UCA News.