Protesters call on the government to block any Myanmar junta representatives from entering New Zealand for the ASEAN summit. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Myanmar community members have marched to Parliament, asking the government to block any member of the military junta from entering the country for a summit later this month.
New Zealand is hosting an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) dialogue meeting in Wellington on 18 and 19 April, despite not being a member of the association.
New Zealand was one of the first countries to condemn the military coup in 2021, imposing sanctions and travel bans on the junta's leadership, and suspending high-level political engagement. The travel ban was expanded in February.
However, ASEAN's policy is to engage with Myanmar, and so officials have been invited to attend the summit.
The possibility that Myanmar may send a representative not on the travel ban list led hundreds to turn out at Parliament's steps, and ask the government to go further, and block any representative from arriving.
Protesters call on the government to block any Myanmar junta representatives from entering New Zealand for the ASEAN summit, on 9 April, 2024. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
NZ Myanmar Communities member Stanley Saw said: "It goes against the principles that New Zealand holds".
His daughter, Yadana Saw, a Greater Wellington Regional councillor, said hosting any representatives of the junta was inviting "blood money" into New Zealand.
"They still work for that regime, which almost everyone in the Burmese disapora, here in Aotearoa and even back home in Myanmar, do not recognise that regime. They are not a legitimate government, they cannot be here as representatives."
Protesters call on the government to block any Myanmar junta representatives from entering New Zealand for the ASEAN summit, on 9 April, 2024. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The people who marched to Parliament on Tuesday were putting their lives, and the lives of their families who were still in Myanmar, at risk by attending, but the cause was too great, Saw said.
"The fact that people have come out today, to be visible shows how important this issue is," she said.
"I think the greater danger is the reputation of New Zealand in the international diplomatic community. Yes, we can look at the potential corporate dollars that might come in from these deals, and yes, we aren't members of ASEAN, but what is our standing in the international diplomatic community?"
MPs from the Labour and Green parties addressed the crowd in support.
From left, Labour party members Helen White, Priyanca Radhakrishnan, Phil Twyford, Rachel Boyack, and David Parker address protesters from the Myanmar community who marched to Parliament on 9 April, 2024. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Labour's associate foreign affairs spokesperson Phil Twyford said: "They stole democracy at the barrel of a gun. Do we want them in our country? No".
Green MP Lauren Xu-Nan said even considering the option of allowing a representative of Myanmar into New Zealand was shameful.
"They can make this last-minute decision [to not allow them in]. It is not beyond their power to do so. This will send a signal that Aotearoa can continue to be that signal, that beacon of peace."
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon reiterated the government's position was to condemn the junta, but New Zealand was simply playing host to ASEAN.
"It may well be that the person from Myanmar chooses not to come, or chooses to come, as long as they aren't on our exclusion list."
The meeting was "mid-level" and "non-political", Luxon said, but the community was concerned even hosting a mid-level official would still legitimise the regime.
"Weasel words, to say that our hands are tied. We [New Zealand] don't answer to ASEAN. We are not even a member of ASEAN. Total rubbish," Stanley Saw said.
He believed New Zealand should follow Australia's example, and completely exclude any representative from Myanmar.