Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing visits Malaysia amid concerns over repatriations

Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing arrives in Malaysia on his first visit since the 2021 coup.

Al Jazeera2026-10-07 07:49查看原文 ↗

Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing arrives in Malaysia for his first visit since the 2021 coup, as deportations of Myanmar nationals draw concerns from the UN and rights groups.

Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing gestures at a business forum during his official state visit to Vietnam, in Hanoi [File: Thinh Tien Nguyen/Reuters]

Myanmar’s military leader-turned-president has arrived in Malaysia for talks with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, as Kuala Lumpur seeks his cooperation to send back thousands of Myanmar nationals.

Min Aung Hlaing touched down at Kuala Lumpur international airport at 04:30 GMT on Wednesday, state media images showed.

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The two-day visit comes as Malaysia pushes ahead with a controversial move to repatriate thousands of ⁠Myanmar nationals, despite warnings from the United Nations and rights groups that returnees could face serious danger amid a raging civil war.

“The visit provides the prime minister with an opportunity to sustain his direct engagement with Myanmar,” the Malaysian government said in a statement on Tuesday.

Key bilateral issues include the “voluntary, ⁠⁠dignified and safe repatriation of Myanmar nationals of all ethnic groups who have been in Malaysia illegally”, it added.

A spokeswoman for Min Aung Hlaing said “the agenda will include discussions on the voluntary, dignified and safe repatriation of Myanmar nationals currently in Malaysia”.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, triggering a civil war that has killed an estimated 100,000 people and displaced more than 3.5 million.

The military engineered a widely criticised election that allowed the retired general, who is subject to Western sanctions, to take up a civilian role — a ‌‌transition that has led to some moves towards re-engagement with Myanmar.

Since formally becoming president in April, Min Aung Hlaing has visited ASEAN member countries Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, and also made trips to China, India, Russia and Belarus.

Repatriation of Rohingya

In Malaysia, following a wave of online hate speech and misinformation earlier this year, pressure on undocumented migrants and refugees has grown, particularly against Rohingya, many of whom fled a brutal 2017 military crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

Last month, Anwar said in a podcast that he would invite Min Aung Hlaing for an official ⁠⁠visit if Myanmar accepted the return of thousands of Rohingya refugees.

Malaysia has deported about 10,000 Myanmar nationals since January, ⁠⁠according to Anwar, who said Myanmar authorities had given assurances those returning would not be harmed.

Malaysia is home to about 215,600 refugees and asylum seekers registered with the UNHCR, including about 126,000 Rohingya who make up one of Southeast Asia’s largest refugee communities.

Despite hosting them, Malaysia is not a party to the UN Refugee Convention and treats refugees as undocumented migrants.

缅甸领导人敏昂莱抵达马来西亚，这是他自 2021 年政变以来的首次访问。与此同时，缅甸国民被驱逐出境一事引起了联合国和人权组织的关注。

缅甸国家主席敏昂莱在对越南进行正式国事访问期间，于河内出席一个商业论坛并发表讲话。[图片：Thinh Tien Nguyen/路透社]

缅甸军方领导人出身的总统已抵达马来西亚，与总理安瓦尔·易卜拉欣举行会谈。吉隆坡方面希望得到他的合作，遣返数千名缅甸国民。

官方媒体图片显示，敏昂莱于周三格林尼治标准时间 04:30 抵达吉隆坡国际机场。

缅甸军方空袭若开邦市场，造成至少33人死亡（共3条，此为第1条）

马来西亚不顾安全警告，开始遣返罗兴亚难民（共3条记录，此为第2条）

马来西亚曾收容罗兴亚人，如今却想让他们离开（名单3/3）。

此次为期两天的访问正值马来西亚推进一项备受争议的举措，即遣返数千名缅甸国民。尽管联合国和人权组织警告称，在缅甸内战肆虐的情况下，返回者可能会面临严重危险，但马来西亚仍坚持这一举措。

马来西亚政府周二在一份声明中表示：“此次访问为总理提供了一个继续与缅甸保持直接接触的机会。”

声明还补充说，关键的双边问题包括“自愿、有尊严且安全地遣返所有非法滞留在马来西亚的缅甸各族裔国民”。

敏昂莱的一位发言人表示，“议程将包括讨论目前在马来西亚的缅甸国民自愿、有尊严且安全地返回家园的问题”。