Myanmar Spring Chronicle – February 15 Snapshot
(MoeMaKa), February 16, 2026
Myanmar junta expels Timor-Leste diplomat amid ASEAN member-state tensions
Myanmar’s coup regime has ordered Timor-Leste’s chargé d’affaires (acting head of mission) for Myanmar to leave the country within seven days, according to a statement dated February 15 issued by the junta’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Timor-Leste was recently agreed by the ten ASEAN states—at an ASEAN summit late last year—to become ASEAN’s 11th member.
An expulsion of a diplomat between ASEAN member states is extremely rare, and this is being described as the Myanmar junta’s most severe diplomatic retaliation against Timor-Leste.
In recent months, the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) reportedly traveled to Timor-Leste and sought to open a case in Timor-Leste’s courts concerning human-rights violations allegedly committed by the Myanmar military in Chin State. The junta protested as soon as it learned of this, but the legal process continued: the court accepted the case, appointed a prosecutor, and moved toward a hearing. More than three weeks after CHRO officials were received by Timor-Leste’s president, the situation escalated to the point where Myanmar issued an order for the Timor-Leste mission’s acting head to depart within seven days.
Myanmar’s coup authorities had already opposed Timor-Leste’s ASEAN accession in previous years. After the 2021 coup, Timor-Leste’s leaders officially received and met with the National Unity Government (NUG) foreign minister, which the Myanmar junta claimed was interference in Myanmar’s internal affairs—citing that as a reason to object to Timor-Leste joining ASEAN.
During the period of objection, Timor-Leste diplomats met Myanmar’s junta foreign ministry and reportedly promised that Timor-Leste would not allow the NUG to open an office in their country, and that anti-junta activities would not be permitted. After that pledge—reportedly made in September 2025—Myanmar’s junta withdrew its objection to Timor-Leste’s ASEAN membership.
However, only a few months after Timor-Leste’s accession, CHRO’s efforts to pursue a legal case against the Myanmar military emerged, and the latest outcome has now escalated to the expulsion of a diplomat.
The article notes that when Timor-Leste’s foreign minister and delegation met Myanmar’s foreign minister in September last year, Timor-Leste also invited Myanmar’s junta to open an embassy in Dili. But Myanmar’s junta has not proceeded with establishing a mission or opening an embassy there during this period.
Timor-Leste (also known as East Timor) gained independence from Indonesian rule in 2002 and has a population of just over one million. Its total GNP is around US$1.29 billion, and among Southeast Asian countries it is described as having one of the smallest populations and economies—significantly smaller even than Laos. Because of its own long struggle under colonial rule, Timor-Leste’s current leaders include figures who participated in the independence movement, and they tend to empathize with anti-authoritarian movements in the region. The article says Timor-Leste has shown support for Myanmar’s democratic movement and efforts to end military dictatorship.
The Myanmar junta, the article argues, has been closely watching Timor-Leste—now a new ASEAN member—because of Timor-Leste’s perceived sympathy toward Myanmar’s pro-democracy forces and its official meetings with NUG representatives. The expulsion is framed as the junta’s strongest diplomatic reaction so far.
With this kind of diplomatic dispute now arising between member states, ASEAN may face pressure to intervene and resolve the situation. The article adds that ASEAN has already been downgrading Myanmar’s participation in foreign-ministers’ meetings for more than four years because the junta has failed to implement ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus.
How ASEAN will handle this newest diplomatic conflict between member states remains to be seen.