Members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) finally agreed on forming a human rights agency despite opposition from Myanmar, but a timetable or framework towards reaching this desideratum failed to emerge.

The decision was made on Monday during a meeting of the 10-member organization. Most members are pushing forward for the establishment of a human rights body, a first step towards a new charter that would bring the bloc’s status closer to the ones of international organizations which have internal rules and several agencies.

But the process is hampered by Myanmar’s opposition, who says meddling in internal affairs of other member nations represents a breaking of a tradition that should be respected.

The importance of this body has been underlined by Malaysia’s foreign minister, who said a “first step” has been made and the process should continue as planned despite the bumpy road ahead.

“This is the first step. The next step is getting it formed. Let us cross the bridge when we come to it. I'm not saying that it is easy,” Syed Hamid Albar  said on Tuesday.

“From the start, we thought it's going to be a very thorny issue, a difficult issue. But ASEAN has to move to the new world. It cannot stay at the old line and keep on putting barriers and obstacles and excuses,” the diplomat added.

Albar stressed that a human rights provision will certainly bring a new image for the bloc and give it credibility in front of the people.

“We are for human rights, we are for civil liberties, we want to see democracy, we want to see rule of law, we want to see good governance,” Albar fervently said.

Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam weren’t so eager to promote the plan for a human rights organization, known being their controversial past in smothering opposition and minorities. According to Albar, the mentioned states fear that this project can be used “as a political instrument” and adopted an opposing in first stance towards the idea.

Ministers present at the annual meeting held in Manila hope to reach a consensus and lay out a framework and time limit for the proposed charter before the 13th summit takes place in Singapore. The summit is due to kick-off in November and will be attended by the leaders of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Brunei.