Malaysia Won't Deport Rohingya If Return Is Unsafe
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- Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil told reporters that Malaysia "will not return the 5,000 Myanmar refugees if they would either be persecuted or their lives would be threatened," adding that the Foreign Ministry is studying "several matters" with Myanmar's authorities
- Deputy Foreign Minister Lukanisman Awang Sauni announced that around 5,000 Myanmar nationals held in immigration detention are slated for repatriation once Myanmar is ready to accept them, a plan PM Anwar Ibrahim confirmed on July 30 at a Negeri Sembilan campaign rally, saying: "We have good relations with Myanmar. They have now agreed to take 5,000 Rohingya"
- Human Rights Watch called on Malaysia to suspend the repatriation, declaring that "conditions for safe, dignified, and voluntary return to Myanmar do not currently exist," with HRW's Bryony Lau urging Malaysia to "show regional leadership" instead of forcibly returning people to the junta
- Malaysia currently has around 126,000 Rohingya asylum seekers registered with UNHCR in Kuala Lumpur — roughly half the agency's total there — but does not recognize Rohingya as refugees, and last month ordered UNHCR to temporarily stop registering new asylum-seekers
- The plan comes amid a rise in xenophobic rhetoric, with public figures labeling Rohingya as "criminals," "intruders," and a "cancer"; more than 100 refugees were detained late last month after gathering outside UNHCR's Kuala Lumpur office following their eviction from a Penang settlement
Why it matters: Malaysia's "safety" condition is essentially impossible to satisfy: Myanmar's military-backed government still classifies Rohingya as illegal Bengali immigrants, and most of Rakhine State is now controlled by the Arakan Army, which has itself attacked Rohingya communities. With the U.S. tightening refugee admissions and third-country resettlement shrinking, the 126,000 Rohingya in Malaysia face a narrowing set of options.
