Myanmar vows ‘safe’ returns ahead of Malaysia refugee repatriations

The assurance was made after the United Nations and rights groups raised concerns about the upcoming repatriation of 1,500 Rohingya refugees from Malaysia.

The regime in Naypyidaw pledged on Thursday “safe and dignified” returns for its citizens displaced abroad, after the U.N. and rights groups raised concerns about the upcoming repatriation of 1,500 refugees living temporarily in Malaysia.

The regime’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also repeated its disavowal of the persecuted ethnic Rohingya nationality, members of which campaigners fear may be plunged back into danger by the repatriation scheme.

Non-refoulement is a core rule of international law that bans countries from forcing refugees or asylum seekers back to a place where they face torture, cruel treatment, or threats to life and freedom.

In July, Malaysia said Myanmar had agreed to take back 5,000 members of the ethnic Rohingya nationality, a group which has faced a campaign of violent discrimination in Myanmar since 2017.

Both countries say a first wave of nearly 1,500 Myanmar nationals will be repatriated voluntarily on Sept. 29, although it is unclear how many Rohingya will be included.

“Myanmar is committed to working closely with Bangladesh and friendly countries to facilitate the voluntary return of verified displaced persons in a safe and dignified manner,” the regime stated on Sept. 3.

Over 700,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar after a brutal military crackdown starting in 2017, which is the basis of a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

More than 1.2 million Rohingya now live just over the border in Bangladesh, in the world’s largest refugee settlement, but talk of repatriations has yielded little progress.

Another 126,000 Rohingya live in Malaysia, alongside displaced Myanmar citizens from other ethnic nationalities, including the Chin and Karen.

Myanmar has long denied the Rohingya have a distinct heritage, saying they are descendants of immigrants from Bangladesh – even refusing to use the term “Rohingya”.

The regime repeated its assertion that the term “falsely claims an ethnic identity which has never existed in Myanmar”, as it condemned recent commemorations in some countries for Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day on Aug. 25.

Malaysia’s communications minister Fahmi Fadzil has said his country will not repatriate Myanmar nationals “if they would either be persecuted or their lives would be threatened.”

But rights monitors fear returning the Rohingya to a country where their identities are erased will permit a new wave of abuses.

A report by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres published Sept. 2 found “conditions for their voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return do not currently exist”.

Many migrants in Malaysia are also being held in detention centres, raising questions about whether their decisions to return can be freely made.

AFP