Anwar offers Min Aung Hlaing visit for Rohingya return — SkimNews
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- Anwar Ibrahim said he would invite Myanmar's Min Aung Hlaing for an official visit in exchange for Myanmar accepting the return of Rohingya Muslim refugees, framing it as pragmatic diplomacy over "shouting angrily at Myanmar."
- Anwar confirmed Malaysia, like ASEAN, does not recognize Myanmar's new government but said Kuala Lumpur needed "an authority to negotiate with" on refugee returns.
- Min Aung Hlaing became president in April after an election dominated by an army-backed party; the planned Malaysian visit would be his fifth by an ASEAN member after Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
- Malaysia finalized the first phase of a voluntary repatriation programme last month to return 1,500 Myanmar refugees in September, with Myanmar having agreed to accept 5,000 returns overall and Kuala Lumpur covering the costs.
- Malaysia hosted around 193,800 Myanmar refugees as of February, per UNHCR, which has said conditions in Myanmar are not safe for returns — a warning Anwar acknowledged while insisting refugees "need to be sent home."
- Myanmar's civil war since the 2021 coup has killed an estimated 100,000 people, with the military widely accused of atrocities against civilians, which it rejects.
Why it matters: Anwar is explicitly abandoning Malaysia's previous non-engagement stance with Myanmar's junta to push repatriation of roughly 193,800 refugees Malaysia can no longer absorb — a concession to a government ASEAN still won't recognize, made even as UNHCR says Myanmar is not safe for returns.
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