Malaysian PM Anwar Defends Deportations as Myanmar Leader Visit Looms and Repatriations Near 10,000

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that approximately 10,000 people have been sent back to Myanmar since January, despite strong safety warnings from human rights organizations and the United Nations refugee agency.

Speaking to parliament on Tuesday, Anwar explained that a portion of the deportees were transported via planes arranged by the Myanmar government, while nearly 1,500 individuals were returned by sea last week through a bilateral arrangement.

While acknowledging deep concerns raised by rights groups and lawmakers regarding potential safety hazards for those being repatriated—particularly individuals from the Rohingya Muslim minority—Anwar stated that Myanmar authorities provided assurances that returnees would face no harm.

“The conditions that we placed on Myanmar is that they must bring home their citizens,” Anwar said. “Secondly, it is that they treat their people fairly so that there are no abuses, coercion or rights violations.”

Anwar further noted that he plans to discuss the issue directly with Myanmar’s President Min Aung Hlaing during his upcoming visit to Kuala Lumpur in the next few days. The visit forms part of a broader diplomatic effort by the Myanmar leader to gain legitimacy following the 2021 coup that plunged the nation into civil war.

Although Malaysia maintains that all returnees agreed to the repatriation process, human rights monitors argue that Myanmar refugees were left with minimal choice. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stated that its personnel were barred from meeting the Myanmar nationals to verify if their decisions to return were made freely and with informed consent.

The deportations coincide with increasing immigration raids targeting refugee communities in Malaysia throughout 2026, which have resulted in the detention of more than 50,000 refugees. Although Rohingya make up the majority of Myanmar refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia—which hosts roughly 193,000 refugees from Myanmar and 215,600 total UNHCR-registered individuals—it remains uncertain how many members of this persecuted minority were included in the deportations.

Malaysia is not a party to the UN Refugee Convention and classifies refugees as undocumented migrants. Meanwhile, Myanmar faces accusations of genocide against the Rohingya, with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) opening its first fully heard genocide case in over a decade earlier this year. The UNHCR and various rights groups warn that returnees are vulnerable to persecution and forced military conscription within an active war zone that has claimed over 100,000 lives since the 2021 military takeover, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) project.