Malaysia has officially commenced the process of documenting and screening thousands of detained Myanmar nationals as part of a repatriation initiative coordinated with the government of Myanmar. Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution announced on Thursday that Myanmar has committed to accepting up to 5,000 of its citizens currently residing in Malaysia, as well as an unspecified number of individuals from Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.
The Malaysian government has identified approximately 4,000 Myanmar nationals across 19 detention depots. These individuals are set to be transferred to a centralized site to undergo security screening and documentation. Saifuddin expressed confidence that the country would reach the 5,000-person target once the current processing stage is complete, noting that the foreign ministry will manage subsequent phases of the transfer.
While Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim previously stated that those being repatriated were Rohingya refugees, the Home Minister did not explicitly label the 5,000 individuals as such, emphasizing only their status as Myanmar nationals. This distinction has been echoed by officials in Naypyitaw. Han Win Aung, director-general of the ASEAN department at Myanmar’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, clarified that the program focuses solely on verified Myanmar nationals held in detention centers. He stated that the initiative does not involve the return of Rohingya, whom Myanmar does not recognize as one of its 135 lawful ethnic minorities, often referring to them as Bengalis.
“Both sides are still at the stage of coordinating to repatriate only those whose identity as genuine Myanmar citizens has been verified,” Han Win Aung said, noting that the plan builds upon similar operations conducted in 2021 and 2022, which saw the return of over 1,100 nationals. Meanwhile, officials in Bangladesh have denied knowledge of any repatriation plans for Rohingya from their territory. Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, a commissioner for refugee, relief, and repatriation in Cox’s Bazar, confirmed he was unaware of such an agreement.
Malaysia currently hosts approximately 215,600 refugees and asylum seekers registered with the United Nations, including about 126,000 Rohingya, forming one of the largest refugee communities in Southeast Asia. Despite this, Malaysia is not a party to the U.N. Refugee Convention and officially treats these populations as undocumented migrants.
