Malaysia PM first says Myanmar to take Rohingya refugees from Malaysia and Bangladesh, then says no!
Malaysia says Myanmar has agreed to take back 5,000 Rohingya after negotiations between the two governments, while Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim also said Myanmar had agreed to receive 300,000 Rohingya from Bangladesh. But Myanmar has yet to publicly spell out the scope of the agreement, including who would be returned, what status they would receive and what conditions they would face after returning.
In a Nutshell:
- Malaysia PM Anwar Ibrahim first said Myanmar had agreed to take back 5,000 Rohingya from Malaysia and cited a separate plan involving 300,000 Rohingya from Bangladesh.
- Malaysian Minister of Communications Fahmi Fadzil later said the foreign and home ministries were still reviewing the plan and would only proceed if the refugees would not face persecution or threats to their lives in Myanmar.
- Al Jazeera reported that Human Rights Watch and Malaysia's main Rohingya rights group have opposed the plan, warning that returning Rohingya to Myanmar could expose them to serious rights abuses.
Context
Many Rohingya fled Myanmar's 2017 military crackdown, while recent hate campaigns, evictions and the closure of refugee schools have added pressure on the community in Malaysia. More than 100 Rohingya were also briefly detained after gathering outside UNHCR's Kuala Lumpur office in July to seek help. Malaysian Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said Myanmar's military government had indicated it was ready to receive the 5,000 refugees, but Malaysia is still reviewing the conditions for their return which is conditional on ensuring safety for refugees.
Why it matters
For years, the Rohingya crisis has been stuck between Bangladesh and Malaysia hosting large refugee populations and Myanmar refusing to create conditions that make return possible. The latest developments show why any new repatriation plan has to deal with conditions in both host countries and Myanmar itself. Malaysia's situation could help explain why this is happening now. It hosts more than 215,000 refugees and asylum seekers registered with UNHCR, including over 126,000 Rohingya, but does not formally recognize refugee status or belong to the 1951 Refugee Convention. For Bangladesh, the stakes are much higher as it hosts around 1.2 million Rohingya, most of whom fled Myanmar's 2017 military crackdown. Repeated attempts to start repatriation have failed because, here too, refugees have not considered conditions safe enough. Myanmar is also still facing conflict in Rakhine State, where the military does not control all the territory, making any return plan dependent on other factors than an agreement to receive people. Whether this creates a safe and workable route home or simply moves a stateless population from one country to another remains to be seen.
What we think
Every time the Rohingya repatriation issue is brought up, it goes nowhere. The ball is in Myanmar’s court now; they have to take this issue out of the dead end zone.