Malaysia offers to invite Myanmar leader in Rohingya repatriation push

Malaysia is offering to invite Myanmar’s military ruler for an official visit to the country in a bid to expedite the repatriation of Rohingya refugees.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim made the offer on Wednesday, which, if accepted, would mark another step out of isolation for Myanmar’s military-backed President Min Aung Hlaing.

Min Aung Hlaing, a retired general who seized power in a 2021 coup, has been on a quest ⁠for international legitimacy since becoming president in April.

“I invited him to say we can be friends, we can trade, we can accept Myanmar, but Myanmar must accept them [Rohingya refugees] back,” Malaysia’s president said on a podcast.

Malaysia has been one of the most vocal critics of Myanmar’s former military government and had repeatedly expressed frustration at its refusal to cease hostilities.

“To me, that’s better diplomacy than just shouting angrily at Myanmar. Who’s going to take them? Where do we ‌send ‌them? They don’t even have Myanmar citizenship,” he said, adding that a different approach was needed to resolve the issue.

“We, following ASEAN, don’t want direct relations with Myanmar. So who are we ‌supposed to negotiate with?”

If Myanmar accepts the conditional offer, it would mark Min Aung Hlaing’s fifth visit to an ASEAN member state, after ⁠his recent visits to Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. He has also visited China, India and Russia.

ASEAN has refused to recognise Myanmar’s election. Since 2021, the body has barred Myanmar’s leaders from its summits.

A civil war in Myanmar has killed an estimated 100,000 people, with the military widely accused of atrocities against the mostly Muslim Rohingya population, which the military has denied.

Malaysia has long been a haven for Rohingya fleeing persecution at home, even though it is not a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention and does not formally recognise refugee status.

Nevertheless, it hosts more than 126,000 Rohingya from Myanmar.

Prime Minister Anwar announced in July that Myanmar’s military-backed government had agreed to take back 5,000 members of the persecuted Rohingya minority amid rising tensions with local communities in Malaysia.

Malaysia has finalised the first phase of a voluntary repatriation programme that will see at least 1,500 eligible Myanmar refugees return home on September 29, the government said.