Myanmar president to visit Malaysia tomorrow as migrant returns draw rights groups’ warnings

Myanmar's coup leader turned president, Min Aung Hlaing, is set to visit Malaysia for discussions on the repatriation of Myanmar nationals, with Kuala Lumpur planning to return thousands of immigrants.

Concerns have been raised by rights groups regarding the potential inclusion of Rohingya refugees in these repatriations, given their precarious status in Myanmar.

During the visit, Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will address key bilateral issues, emphasizing the need for safe and dignified repatriations amid ongoing violence and human rights violations in Myanmar.

This diplomatic engagement marks a significant step for Min Aung Hlaing, who has been largely isolated by ASEAN since Myanmar's 2021 coup.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 — Myanmar’s coup leader turned president Min Aung Hlaing will head to Malaysia on Wednesday for a two-day visit, officials said, following Kuala Lumpur’s plan to return thousands of Myanmar immigrants.

The visit comes after a group of nearly 1,500 returnees reached Myanmar on Sunday, with rights groups warning Rohingya refugees could be among those sent back.

Malaysia said about 5,000 Myanmar nationals have agreed to “voluntary” return, but authorities have not commented on the ethnicities of those who have returned.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim “will hold talks with President Min Aung Hlaing on key bilateral issues, including the voluntary, dignified and safe repatriation of Myanmar nationals of all ethnic groups who have been in Malaysia illegally,” Malaysia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Tuesday.

“The Leaders are also expected to review the ongoing efforts undertaken under the Asean mechanisms” for peace in Myanmar, the ministry said in a statement.

Earlier on Tuesday, Anwar told the Malaysian parliament he and other top Malaysian officials “will raise issues towards a solution”.

Naypyidaw has repatriated nearly 10,000 migrants from Malaysia this year, its state media said on Monday.

Anwar said Myanmar had to “guarantee proper treatment to their own people so that there is no abuse, oppression and violation of human rights”.

“But for me, any country that wants to bring back their people from our country, we welcome that,” Anwar said.

The Malaysian visit will be among Min Aung Hlaing’s most diplomatically significant since Asean leaders froze out Myanmar’s junta following the 2021 coup and ensuing civil war.

But Anwar said last month he would welcome the Myanmar leader to expedite migrant repatriations.

“I want to tell him that we can be friends and trade.

“We can accept Myanmar, but they must accept (their refugees) back,” Anwar said during a podcast interview.

The repatriation plan follows what Malaysia’s human rights commission has called “growing hostility, discriminatory rhetoric and online attacks” against the Rohingya in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

Malaysia hosts more than 215,000 refugees and asylum seekers registered with the United Nations refugee agency, including more than 126,000 Rohingya from Myanmar — its largest refugee community.

The UN and rights groups have raised concerns about the repatriations, with monitors fearing the Rohingya could face a new wave of abuses in Myanmar, where they are denied full citizenship.

Rights advocates view Min Aung Hlaing as the primary architect of a crackdown against the group, starting in 2017, which is being weighed by the International Court of Justice as potential genocide.

Myanmar this month pledged “safe and dignified” returns for its citizens displaced abroad.

Myanmar is also riven by violence, with 50 killed last week in a military airstrike on a marketplace in western Rakhine state.

“This is no time to return anyone forcibly to a country plagued by egregious human rights violations and abuses,” UN rights chief Volker Turk said last week.

Min Aung Hlaing ousted the elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, plunging Myanmar into a civil war that has killed more than 100,000 people, according to monitor ACLED.

Since elections that were widely dismissed as a charade, Min Aung Hlaing became civilian leader and launched a drive for regional recognition.

Asean has frozen Myanmar’s top leaders out of its summits since the coup over a lack of engagement with its roadmap to end the civil war.

After 2021, the bloc presented a united front, demanding Myanmar engage with its five-point plan to bring peace through dialogue between all sides.

But analysts have warned the consensus is now fracturing, with some Asean nations now welcoming Min Aung Hlaing.

Malaysia will be the fifth nation of the 11-member Asean bloc – following Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia – to welcome him since taking up the presidency.

He has also visited China – which previously backed him behind the scenes, according to analysts – as well as India and Russia. — AFP

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缅甸政变领导人、现任总统敏昂莱将访问马来西亚，就缅甸国民遣返问题进行磋商，吉隆坡方面计划遣返数千名移民。

鉴于罗兴亚难民在缅甸的处境岌岌可危，人权组织对可能将他们纳入这些遣返计划表示担忧。

访问期间，马来西亚总理安瓦尔·易卜拉欣将讨论重要的双边问题，强调在缅甸持续发生暴力和侵犯人权事件的情况下，需要安全、有尊严地遣返难民。

这次外交接触对敏昂莱来说意义重大，自缅甸2021年发生政变以来，他一直被东盟孤立。

吉隆坡，10 月 6 日——官员表示，缅甸政变领导人、现任总统敏昂莱将于周三前往马来西亚进行为期两天的访问，此前吉隆坡方面计划遣返数千名缅甸移民。

此次访问是在近 1500 名返乡者于周日抵达缅甸之后进行的，人权组织警告称，罗兴亚难民可能也在被遣返之列。

马来西亚方面表示，约有5000名缅甸国民已同意“自愿”返回，但当局尚未就返回者的种族发表评论。

马来西亚外交部周二表示，总理安瓦尔·易卜拉欣“将与总统敏昂莱就关键双边问题举行会谈，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”。

该部在一份声明中表示，“领导人预计还将审查东盟机制下为缅甸和平所做的持续努力”。

周二早些时候，安华告诉马来西亚国会，他和马来西亚其他高级官员“将提出问题以寻求解决方案”。

据该国官方媒体周一报道，内比都今年已从马来西亚遣返了近 1 万名移民。

安华表示，缅甸必须“保证本国人民得到妥善对待，避免虐待、压迫和侵犯人权的行为”。

安瓦尔说：“但对我来说，任何国家如果想把他们的人民从我们国家接回来，我们都表示欢迎。”

自 2021 年政变和随后的内战以来，东盟领导人将缅甸军政府排除在外，此次马来西亚之行将是敏昂莱外交上最重要的访问之一。

但安华上个月表示，他欢迎缅甸领导人加快遣返移民的进程。

“我想告诉他，我们可以成为朋友，也可以进行贸易。”

安瓦尔在一次播客采访中说：“我们可以接受缅甸，但他们必须接收（他们的难民）返回家园。”

马来西亚人权委员会称，在穆斯林占多数的马来西亚，针对罗兴亚人的“敌意、歧视性言论和网络攻击日益增多”，因此制定了遣返计划。

马来西亚收容了超过 215,000 名在联合国难民署登记的难民和寻求庇护者，其中包括超过 126,000 名来自缅甸的罗兴亚人——这是马来西亚最大的难民群体。

联合国和人权组织对遣返行动表示担忧，观察人士担心罗兴亚人在缅甸可能会面临新一轮的虐待，因为他们在缅甸被剥夺了完全公民权。

人权倡导者认为敏昂莱是自 2017 年以来对该组织进行镇压的主要策划者，国际法院正在权衡此举是否构成潜在的种族灭绝。

缅甸本月承诺，将确保流离失所的海外公民“安全、有尊严地”返回家园。

缅甸也饱受暴力冲突的困扰，上周若开邦西部的一个市场遭到军事空袭，造成 50 人死亡。

联合国人权事务高级专员沃尔克·图尔克上周表示：“现在绝不是强行将任何人遣返回一个饱受严重侵犯人权行为困扰的国家的时候。”

2021 年 2 月，敏昂莱推翻了诺贝尔奖得主昂山素季的民选政府，使缅甸陷入内战，据监测机构 ACLED 称，这场内战已造成超过 10 万人死亡。

在被广泛认为是一场闹剧的选举之后，敏昂莱成为文职领导人，并发起了一场争取地区认可的运动。

自政变以来，由于缅甸领导人拒绝参与东盟结束内战的路线图，东盟一直将缅甸最高领导人排除在峰会之外。

2021 年后，该集团展现出团结一致的姿态，要求缅甸参与其五点计划，通过各方对话实现和平。

但分析人士警告称，目前的共识正在瓦解，一些东盟国家现在欢迎敏昂莱。

自他担任东盟轮值主席国以来，马来西亚将成为继泰国、老挝、越南和柬埔寨之后，第五个欢迎他的东盟11个成员国之一。

他还访问了中国（分析人士称，中国此前曾在幕后支持他）、印度和俄罗斯。——法新社

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