Malaysia to work towards Myanmar’s full reintegration into ASEAN, PM says

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Oct 8 his government would do “whatever possible” to ensure Myanmar was re-integrated into the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN, even as pro-democracy activists warned against legitimising the rule of its military-backed 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.

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 ASEAN summits 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 in September 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 a briefing on Oct 8 that 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.

As at February, Malaysia was hosting around 193,000 refugees and asylum seekers from Myanmar in Malaysia, about 65% of them Rohingya, according to UN data.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar does not recognise the Rohingya as one of its official ethnic groups and denies citizenship to most.

Resistance groups urge ASEAN not to legitimise Myanmar leader

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, 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