Myanmar has pledged to swiftly accept more migrants being repatriated from Malaysia despite concerns over whether those returned to the conflict-hit country, particularly Rohingya, can be guaranteed safe homecomings.
Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing made the commitment Thursday during a visit to Malaysia, where Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has been pushing for the return of thousands of migrants, Agence France-Presse reported.
“We will take those verified nationals back as soon as possible,” Min Aung Hlaing said at a joint news conference with Anwar in Putrajaya, Malaysia’s administrative capital.
Nearly 1,500 migrants arrived back in Myanmar on Sunday after a five-day voyage aboard a Malaysian navy vessel. They had been held in detention centers before being sent back.
Anwar announced in July that Myanmar had agreed to take back 5,000 Rohingya. The Malaysian government later said those repatriated would be of “various ethnicities,” not only Rohingya.
Malaysia hosts about 190,000 refugees and asylum seekers from Myanmar, most of them Rohingya, according to the United Nations.
The repatriation drive has raised concerns from the United Nations and human rights groups over whether those returned can be assured of safety in Myanmar, which has been engulfed in armed conflict since the 2021 military coup.
There are particular concerns over Rohingya returnees because of the violent persecution they have faced in Myanmar.
Myanmar last month pledged “safe and dignified” returns for its citizens displaced abroad following criticism from the United Nations and rights groups.
Min Aung Hlaing’s two-day visit also comes as he seeks greater diplomatic engagement after being installed in April as civilian president following elections that democracy watchdogs described as a charade.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has excluded Myanmar from high-level summits since the coup while pressing its leaders to implement a five-point peace plan adopted in April 2021.
ASEAN leaders said in July they were seeking “gradual” engagement with Myanmar, although the peace initiative has made little progress.
Malaysia is the fifth ASEAN country to host Min Aung Hlaing since he began ruling Myanmar as nominally civilian president.
Continued violence has added to concerns over the safety of returnees. A Myanmar military airstrike late last month killed about 50 people at a market in western Myanmar, one of the deadliest recent bombings of the civil war.
Anwar said Malaysia would continue working with Myanmar.
“We and (for) our part in Malaysia will do whatever is possible to make sure that we enhance this collaboration,” he said.
The aim, Anwar added, was to “take Myanmar as part of our community of nations without prejudice, and particularly in the context of ASEAN.”
