ASEAN Beat | Society | Southeast Asia

166 Civil Society Groups Urge Halt to Malaysia’s Rohingya Deportation Plan

The organizations expressed “grave concern” about the repatriation of refugees to Myanmar, citing the risks of violent persecution and forced conscription.

Two elderly Rohingya refugees at their home in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

More than 160 civil society organizations yesterday urged Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to halt plans to deport ​Rohingya refugees to Myanmar, saying that they could face severe risks including ongoing violence ‌and forced conscription into the military.

Last week, Anwar said that he planned to invite military-appointed leader Min Aung Hlaing to Malaysia, in a bid to expedite the repatriation of tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have sought sanctuary in Malaysia over the past decade.

Anwar’s government has already reached a deal with Naypyidaw for the “voluntary” repatriation of some 5,000 refugees, which make up around half of the 10,388 Myanmar nationals currently being held at the country’s immigration detention depots. The first 1,476 of this group is scheduled to return to Myanmar on September 29 aboard two Myanmar Navy warships and a hospital ship.

In their statement, the civil society groups, which included both Malaysian, Myanmar, and international organizations, expressed “grave concern” about the planned deportations, contrasting Malaysia’s treatment of the Rohingya with its vocal advocacy of the Palestinian cause. They also lambasted Anwar’s willingness to roll out the red carpet for Min Aung Hlaing.

“Malaysia’s engagement with the junta must not come at the expense of its own reputation and integrity. Cozying up to genocidaires while criminalizing their survivors is not only illogical but also immoral,” the groups said. “Refoulement of the Rohingya by Malaysia or any ASEAN member state will make them complicit in the ongoing genocide of the Rohingya.”

In their statement, the civil society groups pointed to the continuing conflict in Rakhine State, the home of most Rohingya refugees. It also pointed to a pattern of forced conscription of Rohingya populations by the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA), a Rakhine nationalist armed group that now controls the majority of Rakhine.

The groups called for an “immediate halt” to the planned deportations of all Myanmar nationals, pending a “comprehensive assessment of the situation” in the country.

“Sending Rohingya into a situation of forced conscription will prolong and intensify rather than reduce the........

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