By Rozanna Latiff
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 (Reuters) – Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said his government would do “whatever possible” to ensure Myanmar was re-integrated into the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN, following a meeting with Myanmar’s military-backed leader Min Aung Hlaing on Thursday.
Anwar also pledged to continue working with Myanmar, including on the repatriation of thousands of Myanmar nationals from Malaysia – a move that has been widely criticised by the United Nations and rights groups concerned about the risks from an ongoing civil war.
Former Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing is on a two-day visit to Malaysia as he seeks greater international legitimacy after becoming president in April following an election that Western nations and rights groups widely criticised as a sham. Myanmar has been in turmoil since 2021 when Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup against a democratically elected government, triggering armed conflict across much of the country.
Min Aung Hlaing and other senior Myanmar officials have been barred from attending summits of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after failing to adhere to an ASEAN-brokered peace plan following the coup, but some member countries have sought to re-establish ties.
Since becoming president, Min Aung Hlaing has also visited ASEAN members Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Malaysia’s Anwar acknowledged ongoing concerns about democratic processes in Myanmar but said differences must be respected, adding that Min Aung Hlaing had shown a willingness to be collaborative.
“I would say that we and our part in Malaysia, will do whatever is possible to make sure that we enhance this collaboration and ultimately, take Myanmar as part of our community of nations, without prejudice, and particularly in the context of ASEAN,” Anwar told a media briefing following the meeting.
MYANMAR TO SEND MORE NAVY SHIPS TO REPATRIATE ITS CITIZENS
Anwar also expressed appreciation to Min Aung Hlaing for accepting the repatriation of 10,493 Myanmar nationals from Malaysia so far.
Malaysia has said it can no longer take in refugees from Myanmar, saying they had become a financial burden and a security risk. Malaysia is not a party to the UN refugee convention and treats asylum-seekers as illegal migrants.
The country last month sent back around 1,500 people on Myanmar naval ships, part of a wider repatriation programme that could see as many as 5,000 people deported.
Min Aung Hlaing said at Thursday’s briefing Myanmar citizens currently held at Malaysian immigration detention centres would be brought back as soon as possible.
“Because the current weather is favourable, I will dispatch navy ships to repatriate them,” he said, adding that he would formally request Malaysia to allow the repatriation.
He also extended an invitation for Anwar to visit Myanmar “when the time is right”.
Anwar and Min Aung Hlaing did not mention if their discussions included plans to repatriate Rohingya Muslim refugees, many of whom fled Myanmar after a brutal 2017 military crackdown in the country’s Rakhine state that is now the subject of a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
Muslim-majority Malaysia widely criticised the crackdown at the time.
But public sentiment has turned in recent years, with the Rohingya in Malaysia facing increasing harassment and scrutiny, amid a surge of online hate speech and misinformation. Anwar has said he would push for Myanmar to accept Rohingya refugees.
There are more than 193,000 refugees and asylum seekers from Myanmar in Malaysia, about 65% of them Rohingya, according to the UN refugee agency.
Buddhist-majority Myanmar does not recognise the Rohingya as one of its official ethnic groups and denies citizenship to most.
(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff and Reuters staff; Editing by David Stanway and Kate Mayberry)
