KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Malaysia was seeking security guarantees for any returns and that was the reason why Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing had been invited for talks.
He said, saying calls to simply not send them back offer no solution for the hundreds of thousands of Myanmar refugees in the country.
According to Anwar, Malaysia was seeking security guarantees for any returns, which was why Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing had been invited for talks.
Anwar said he was glad Min Aung Hlaing had accepted the invitation, adding that any decision would have to be deliberated jointly by the Malaysian and Myanmar governments.
“I have received several views on their concerns about being sent home. That is why, in our negotiations, we bind all of this.
It is easy for them (the critics) to say, ‘Don’t send them back.’ Then where do we put the thousands? What we want now are conditions to ensure there is security. That is why we invited him (Min Aung Hlaing) to negotiate,” he said as reported by NST.
He was speaking to reporters after the inaugural Professionals Conference & Exhibition (Profex 2026) at the KLGCC Convention Centre here on Tuesday.
Anwar said Malaysia’s position was to protect the welfare and human rights of refugees, adding that he did not think it was fair to condemn the government for taking the initiative.
He rejected suggestions that Malaysia was simply pushing the refugees back.
“No, it’s not true. We, of course, negotiate. We are quite stringent in our conditions, although it’s their citizens,” he said.
In another development, Malaysia is said to have sent back about 1,500 Myanmar refugees on Tuesday via the first phase of the repatriation programme that had triggered concerns among the human rights groups.
As reported by AFP correspondent and quoted by Sinar Harian, these people were the first group from 5,000 Myanmar citizens whom the Malaysian government said they voluntarily agreed to be sent back from the detention centre.
Based on AFP review, few buses escorted by police were seen to have arrived at the Manjung Town Council Stadium near the Military Base Lumut, Perak.
However, the media were not allowed to enter the premises.
The Myanmar citizens were expected to undergo documentation process before being taken to the military naval base and then send to the country by ships.
Meanwhile thousands of people have fled Myanmar since the 2021 military coup, which triggered a nationwide armed conflict.
The crisis followed the military’s 2017 crackdown in Rakhine State, which forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh.
The Rohingya have faced longstanding discrimination and are largely denied citizenship under Myanmar’s 1982 citizenship law.
As of February, Malaysia was hosting about 193,800 refugees from Myanmar, including Rohingya and Chin, according to UNHCR data. Activists have said the actual number could be higher as many refugees remain unregistered.
