ASEAN Special Envoy Alounkeo Kittikhoun Begins First Mission in Myanmar

Kittikhoun's visit aims to promote ASEAN's peace plan amid ongoing conflict and ahead of the bloc's foreign ministers' meeting.

Alounkeo Kittikhoun, a veteran Laotian diplomat, has arrived in Myanmar for his first mission as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ special envoy.
Kittikhoun's mission is to promote ASEAN's peace plan for Myanmar, a country ravaged by conflict between the military government and a pro-democracy resistance movement.
Almost 2 million people have been displaced by years of fighting in Myanmar, and ASEAN is concerned about regional destabilization and the potential generation of large numbers of refugees.
Kittikhoun's visit precedes a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers scheduled for Jan. 28-29 in Luang Prabang, Laos.
ASEAN's five-point consensus for Myanmar, which the military government initially agreed to but has made little effort to implement, calls for an immediate cessation of violence, dialogue among all parties, mediation by an ASEAN special envoy, provision of humanitarian aid through ASEAN channels, and a visit to Myanmar by the special envoy to meet all concerned parties.