Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said that his government would do “whatever possible” to ensure Myanmar was re-integrated into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), even as pro-democracy activists warned against legitimising the rule of its military regime leader Min Aung Hlaing.
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.
Min Aung Hlaing is on a two-day visit to Malaysia as he seeks greater international legitimacy after being inaugurated Myanmar’s president on April 10 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 regime officials have been barred from attending high-level ASEAN summits and meetings after failing to adhere to the Five Point Consensus, the regional bloc’s peace plan for Myanmar following the coup.
But some member countries, including Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, have sought to re-establish ties outside of the ASEAN framework.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim 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 a meeting with Min Aung Hlaing.
Myanmar to send more navy ships to repatriate nationals from Malaysia
Anwar also expressed appreciation to Min Aung Hlaing for accepting the repatriation of approximately 10,493 Myanmar nationals from Malaysia since January
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 U.N. 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 home as soon as possible.
“Because the current weather is favourable, I will dispatch navy ships to repatriate them,” he said, adding that he would invite 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 refugees, many of whom fled Myanmar after a brutal 2017 military crackdown in Arakan State, which is now the subject of a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
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.
As of February, Malaysia was hosting around 193,000 refugees and asylum seekers from Myanmar in Malaysia, about 65 per cent of them Rohingya, according to U.N. data.
Myanmar does not recognise the Rohingya as one of its official ethnic groups and denies citizenship to most.
Resistance groups calls on ASEAN not to legitimize Myanmar regime
Min Aung Hlaing’s visit was met with protests by Myanmar’s pro-democracy activists and resistance groups, who urged ASEAN not to confer political legitimacy on his presidency.
“His legitimacy is a nightmare for the whole nation, for the people who have lost their lives, who have sacrificed their homes,” said Swam Saung, a member of the Myanmar Affairs Alliance, at a gathering in Kuala Lumpur.
He also expressed fear for Myanmar nationals being repatriated, saying they could face forced conscription given that the military remained in conflict with various ethnic armed groups.
“They are forcing their own people to fight against their own people. So this is horrifying,” he said.
The Steering Council for the Emergence of a Federal Democratic Union (SCEF), an umbrella organisation that includes several major Myanmar armed ethnic groups and democratic bodies, said Malaysia had traditionally upheld principles of humanitarian values, democracy, and human rights during engagements on Myanmar within ASEAN.
“Receptive diplomatic hosting of Min Aung Hlaing at the head-of-state level stands in direct contradiction to these established principles,” it said in a statement.
REUTERS
