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Malaysia Sends Nearly 10,000 Myanmar Citizens Home as President Aims to Visit Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said that about 10,000 people have been repatriated to Myanmar since January, despite warnings from human rights groups and the United Nations refugee agency. He told parliament that many of those deported were flown back on planes arranged by the Myanmar government, while nearly 1,500 were returned by sea last week under a bilateral agreement. Anwar acknowledged concerns over the safety of returnees, especially Rohingya Muslims, but noted that Myanmar authorities had assured Malaysia they would not be harmed. "The conditions we placed on Myanmar are that they must bring home their citizens," he said, adding that they must treat their people fairly to prevent abuses, coercion or rights violations.
Anwar said he would continue discussions with Myanmar’s President Min Aung Hlaing, who is scheduled to visit Kuala Lumpur in the next few days. The visit is part of the Myanmar leader’s effort to gain legitimacy after the 2021 coup that plunged the country into civil war and after the 2017 military crackdown that forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee.
Malaysia insists all returnees agreed to repatriation, but rights monitors say many refugees had little choice. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that its staff were not allowed to meet the Myanmar nationals to confirm whether their decisions to return were genuinely free and informed. The deportations come amid intensified raids on refugee communities in Malaysia, during which more than 50,000 refugees were detained in 2026.
Rohingya make up the majority of Myanmar refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia, but it is unclear how many of the deported were from the persecuted group. Malaysia has hosted about 193,000 refugees from Myanmar, according to UN data, and is home to roughly 215,600 refugees and asylum seekers registered with the UNHCR. Myanmar has been accused of genocide against the Rohingya, a claim that led the International Court of Justice to open its first genocide case it has heard in full in more than a decade.
UNHCR and rights groups warn that returnees could face persecution and forced military conscription in an active war zone. Myanmar has been embroiled in civil war since the military seized power in 2021, with more than 100,000 people killed since the coup, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project.