Malaysia and Myanmar agree on return of detained Myanmar nationals amid concerns over voluntary repatriation

Mizzima

Malaysia and Myanmar agreed on 8 October to send home the remaining Myanmar nationals held in Malaysian immigration detention, but neither government has said who is covered, and the UN refugee agency says it has had no access to the first 1,476 people returned to check whether they chose to go.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told a joint press conference in Putrajaya, during a two-day visit by junta leader Min Aung Hlaing that the remaining detainees would be returned under set rules once their records are verified, with details to be negotiated between the two countries’ home affairs ministries.

A second group of 3,524 people, whose names Myanmar’s authorities submitted, has already been agreed, government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil said on 30 September, and its timing depends on how quickly the individuals are verified, according to the Home Ministry.

Beyond that, the two governments describe those being returned in different ways. Anwar said in July that Myanmar had agreed to take back 5,000 Rohingya from Malaysia, while Han Win Aung, an official at Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry, has said the plan involves genuine citizens and is not about the Rohingya, whom Myanmar denies citizenship.

A Malaysian government statement on 6 October referred to Myanmar nationals “of all ethnic groups,” and neither government has said how many Rohingya were in the first group.

No independent body has checked whether those being sent home want to go. Fahmi said the first 1,476 people had signed documents saying they wished to return, but Edem Wosornu, the UN refugee agency’s assistant high commissioner for protection, said that because they were held in detention it was seriously in doubt whether their decisions were free and informed, and that the agency could not assess them without access.

What has happened to those already returned has not been independently confirmed. Anwar has said Myanmar’s authorities gave assurances that returnees would not be harmed, and Myanmar state media reported that family members and local authorities would meet them at the port in Yangon and arrange transport to their hometowns.