166 Civil Society Groups Urge Halt to Malaysia’s Rohingya Deportation Plan

Por Sebastian Strangio — The Diplomat

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The organizations expressed “grave concern” about the repatriation of refugees to Myanmar, citing the risks of violent persecution and forced conscription.

Two elderly Rohingya refugees at their home in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

More than 160 civil society organizations yesterday urged Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to halt plans to deport Rohingya refugees to Myanmar, saying that they could face severe risks including ongoing violence ‌and forced conscription into the military.

Last week, Anwar said that he planned to invite military-appointed leader Min Aung Hlaing to Malaysia, in a bid to expedite the repatriation of tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have sought sanctuary in Malaysia over the past decade.

Anwar’s government has already reached a deal with Naypyidaw for the “voluntary” repatriation of some 5,000 refugees, which make up around half of the 10,388 Myanmar nationals currently being held at the country’s immigration detention depots. The first 1,476 of this group is scheduled to return to Myanmar on September 29 aboard two Myanmar Navy warships and a hospital ship.

In their statement, the civil society groups, which included both Malaysian, Myanmar, and international organizations, expressed “grave concern” about the planned deportations, contrasting Malaysia’s treatment of the Rohingya with its vocal advocacy of the Palestinian cause. They also lambasted Anwar’s willingness to roll out the red carpet for Min Aung Hlaing.

“Malaysia’s engagement with the junta must not come at the expense of its own reputation and integrity. Cozying up to genocidaires while criminalizing their survivors is not only illogical but also immoral,” the groups said. “Refoulement of the Rohingya by Malaysia or any ASEAN member state will make them complicit in the ongoing genocide of the Rohingya.”

In their statement, the civil society groups pointed to the continuing conflict in Rakhine State, the home of most Rohingya refugees. It also pointed to a pattern of forced conscription of Rohingya populations by the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA), a Rakhine nationalist armed group that now controls the majority of Rakhine.

The groups called for an “immediate halt” to the planned deportations of all Myanmar nationals, pending a “comprehensive assessment of the situation” in the country.

“Sending Rohingya into a situation of forced conscription will prolong and intensify rather than reduce the conflict,” it stated.

Large numbers of Rohingya have flowed into Malaysian since 2017, when the Myanmar military launched an ethnic cleansing campaign that pushed more than 740,000 from their homes in Rakhine State into Bangladesh. As of February, 193,800 refugees from Myanmar were registered with the U.N. refugee agency in Kuala Lumpur, of which 126,000 were Rohingya. Malaysia does not recognize any of them as refugees.

In recent months, Anwar has come under growing pressure to respond a tide of public hostility toward the Rohingya in Malaysia, which has been marked by an upsurge of xenophobic rhetoric, particularly online, and inflammatory comments by prominent public figures, who have described the Rohingya as “criminals” and “intruders” and likened them to a “cancer” on the country. Across the country, Rohingya refugee schools have been forced to close due to harassment and ⁠threats.

Among ASEAN governments, Malaysia has been among the most critical of the Myanmar military’s seizure of power in 2021, and its ruthless attempts to put down the armed uprising that followed. But the growing domestic pressure over refugees has forced Anwar to adopt a more accommodating position toward Naypyidaw.

In a podcast interview last week, he announced plans to invite Min Aung Hlaing to undertake an official visit to Malaysia, which would make it the fifth ASEAN member state to welcome the coup leader since he was elected president by Myanmar’s military-dominated parliament in April. Anwar said that Malaysia was not ready to recognize the government, ⁠but needed an authority to negotiate with on returning refugees.

“I invited him to say we can be friends, we can trade, we can accept Myanmar, but Myanmar must accept them [the refugees] back,” he said. “Otherwise, this will continue to place a burden on security, and the economy, while also creating tensions among the public.”

This language was echoed by the Ministry of Home Affairs in its announcement of the September 29 deportation, when it said that the refugees’ presence had become a “major financial burden, caused serious social problems, and created a real security threat to the country.”

In their statement, civil society groups said that this campaign appeared to be “a cynical tactic” by politicians aimed at ginning up support ahead of the next Malaysian general election, which is due to be held by 2028.

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The groups called for an “immediate halt” to the planned deportations of all Myanmar nationals, pending a “comprehensive assessment of the situation” in the country.

“Sending Rohingya into a situation of forced conscription will prolong and intensify rather than reduce the conflict,” it stated.