JELEBU - Myanmar has agreed to receive an initial 5,000 Rohingya from Malaysia, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on July 29.
Anwar announced the agreement during an event in Simpang Durian, saying Myanmar had previously refused to accept Rohingya sent from Malaysia. “Now, because of our good relations with Myanmar, they have agreed to take back 5,000 from Malaysia,” he said in the July 29 announcement.
The announcement did not identify who would be included, where they are living or whether they are being held in immigration detention. It also provided no transfer date or details about consent, protection screening or reception arrangements in Myanmar.
A July 23 parliamentary statement referred to plans to transport about 5,000 Myanmar nationals held in immigration depots to Myanmar by naval vessels, subject to Myanmar’s agreement and the completion of outstanding procedures. The reports reviewed do not establish whether they are the same group Anwar later identified as Rohingya.
UNHCR figures show that 126,144 Rohingya were among approximately 215,600 refugees and asylum-seekers registered with the agency in Malaysia at the end of February.
The agreement comes as Malaysia seeks greater control over refugee registration and screening. The government has asked UNHCR to suspend new registrations temporarily while it reorganises implementation of its Refugee Registration Document programme, known as the DPP. Officials say the system will place identity verification, monitoring and refugee data under more structured government supervision.
Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said on July 28 that Malaysia should reconsider UNHCR’s presence unless the agency cooperates with stricter controls on refugee documentation. He said applicants should be screened jointly by UNHCR and Malaysian authorities before documents are issued.
Malaysia has not acceded to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol and has no legal and policy framework addressing the protection and welfare needs of refugees and asylum-seekers. Anwar did not announce when the first transfers could take place or what conditions Myanmar had set for receiving the group.
