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Malaysia secures deal for Myanmar to repatriate 5,000 Rohingya refugees

By The South Asia Times

KUALA LUMPUR — In a significant diplomatic breakthrough, Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced on Wednesday that Myanmar has agreed to take back 5,000 Rohingya refugees currently residing in Malaysia, marking the first major repatriation effort for the stateless minority in the region.

The agreement, reached following bilateral negotiations, is seen as an initial step toward resolving a long-standing humanitarian and security challenge. "People say 'send them back, send them back'. Send them back to where? Myanmar didn't want to take them," Anwar said at an event in Simpang Durian, explaining the importance of maintaining diplomatic ties to achieve the outcome.

Malaysia currently hosts a large community of Rohingya who have fled systemic persecution in Myanmar's Rakhine state. The community has faced challenges including recent evictions and public order concerns, adding urgency to the need for a formal repatriation mechanism.

The Prime Minister also revealed that Myanmar has agreed to accept approximately 300,000 Rohingya currently sheltering in Bangladesh [citation:user]. More than 1.3 million Rohingya reside in Cox's Bazar, having fled military crackdowns since 2017. Despite their long presence, they remain stateless and denied citizenship rights in Myanmar.

Anwar stressed that maintaining "good relations with Myanmar" was essential to facilitating the process and vowed to continue discussions for a comprehensive long-term solution to the refugee crisis affecting the region.