Myanmar refugee return will not go ahead if lives are at risk, says Malaysia
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Rohingya refugees inside a truck as they are taken by police, in front of the office of the UN Refugee Agency in Kuala Lumpur on July 27.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Malaysia will not repatriate 5,000 Rohingya refugees to Myanmar if their lives or safety are at risk, according to government officials.
- The refugees face rising tensions and harassment in Malaysia, including school closures, evictions and brief detentions.
- Human Rights Watch urged Malaysia to halt the return plan, warning refugees face persecution and abuses by Myanmar's junta government.
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KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia will not proceed with repatriating 5,000 Myanmar refugees if their lives are found to be at risk upon their return, a government spokesman said on Aug 5, as the authorities continued to screen the refugees ahead of the planned handover.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has said that the 5,000 to be repatriated were ethnic Rohingya refugees, and that the move was being carried out following rising tensions with local communities in Malaysia.
In the unrest, Rohingya refugee schools across the country were shut down, with many Rohingya children reportedly facing harassment and threats.
Some refugees were also evicted from their homes in the state of Penang and briefly detained by the authorities after gathering outside the UN Refugee Agency’s building in Kuala Lumpur to seek assistance.
Malaysia’s foreign and home ministries are currently reviewing the plan to identify the 5,000 refugees to be returned to Myanmar, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil told a regular press briefing.
“Malaysia, as a responsible country, will not return the 5,000 Myanmar refugees if they would either be persecuted or their lives would be threatened,” he said.
“There are several matters that will be studied and discussed with the Myanmar government before the government implements (the plan),” added Fahmi, who is also the government spokesman.
“The junta government in Myanmar is ready to receive them, but we will study what the criteria are, and, if appropriate, we will implement it. The Prime Minister has taken note that we cannot send them back if their lives are threatened. So there are several matters currently being studied by the Foreign Ministry,” he added.
Human Rights Watch, a non-governmental organisation, urged the government to reverse its plans, noting that these refugees face persecution and other rights abuses in Myanmar.
“The Malaysian government should show regional leadership in responding to the crisis in Myanmar, rather than forcibly returning people who are the targets of the junta's brutality,” Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. REUTERS
