Myanmar’s president Min Aung Hlaing is expected to visit Malaysia in the coming days for discussions on finding a long-term solution to the issue of Myanmar refugees in the country, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told the Dewan Rakyat today.
Anwar said Malaysia’s position is that Myanmar nationals should be returned to their country, but proper safeguards must be in place to ensure they are not subjected to abuse, pressure or human rights violations.
“The conditions we are putting forward are that we need to return the Myanmar citizens, and proper treatment must be guaranteed to them so that there is no abuse, pressure or human rights violations,” he said.
Anwar had announced last month that he would invite Min Aung Hlaing for an official visit to Malaysia as part of efforts to accelerate the repatriation of some 200,000 Rohingya refugees currently in the country.
He said the diplomatic engagement was aimed at finding a long-term solution to the issue, which has raised concern and anger among parts of the local community.
According to Anwar, Myanmar had previously agreed to take back 5,000 Rohingya refugees in stages following earlier negotiations.
The first phase of the repatriation programme saw 1,476 Myanmar nationals sent back on Sept 29 aboard three Myanmar naval vessels.
Malaysia is now awaiting confirmation from Myanmar on the date for the second phase, which involves the repatriation of another 3,524 Myanmar nationals.
