Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has claimed that Myanmar has agreed to take back 300,000 Rohingya refugees currently living in Bangladesh. He also said Myanmar had agreed to repatriate around 5,000 Rohingya residing in Malaysia.
According to Malaysian daily The Star, Anwar made the remarks on Wednesday during a dialogue session with local residents in Chenah, Negeri Sembilan.
The prime minister said the development was the result of sustained diplomatic engagement and constructive discussions between Malaysia and Myanmar’s military government. Maintaining cordial relations with Myanmar, he said, had enabled Kuala Lumpur to secure its agreement to accept 300,000 Rohingya from Bangladesh and another 5,000 from Malaysia. He added that resolving such a complex issue requires patient, careful and effective diplomacy.
More than 750,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh within months after a military crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine State on August 25, 2017. Several hundred thousand others had already sought refuge in Bangladesh before the latest influx. Today, nearly 1.5 million Rohingya live in 33 refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, making it one of the world’s largest refugee settlements.
Under growing international pressure, Myanmar’s government, then led by Aung San Suu Kyi, signed a repatriation agreement with Bangladesh in late 2017. However, the agreement was never implemented. Two subsequent attempts in 2019 also failed, as many Rohingya refugees refused to return due to concerns over security, citizenship rights and the lack of guarantees for their safety.
The repatriation process became even more uncertain following the COVID-19 pandemic and Myanmar’s military coup in 2021. Later, several trilateral initiatives facilitated by China also failed to produce tangible progress, while escalating fighting between Myanmar’s military and armed resistance groups effectively stalled repatriation efforts.
Responding to questions about why the refugees had not been returned earlier, Anwar said that although many had previously called for the Rohingya to be sent back, Myanmar had been unwilling to receive them. As a result, he said, providing them with shelter on humanitarian grounds had been the only viable option.
The Malaysian prime minister also issued a stern warning to Rohingya living in Malaysia, saying that anyone found violating the law or disrupting public order would face strict legal action. He said the Inspector-General of Police had been instructed to take the necessary measures.
Anwar stressed that everyone residing in Malaysia must abide by the country’s laws and that acts of violence or public disorder would not be tolerated.
Source: The Star (Malaysia)