by Hafizur Rahman
July 29, 2026
Myanmar has agreed to take back an initial group of 5,000 Rohingya refugees currently living in Malaysia following bilateral negotiations, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Wednesday.
Anwar announced the purported agreement during an event in Chennah, Jelebu. He said Myanmar had previously refused to accept Rohingya refugees but had changed its position following diplomatic engagement with Malaysia.
“People ask to send them back, but send them back where? Send them to Myanmar—previously, they did not want to accept them,” Anwar said.
“But due to the good relations between Malaysia and Myanmar, they have now agreed to take in 5,000 Rohingya refugees first from Malaysia,” he added.
Anwar did not identify the Myanmar authority with which the purported agreement was reached. He also provided no timeline, selection procedure or information about whether the refugees concerned would return voluntarily.
Myanmar authorities had not publicly confirmed the agreement at the time of publication.
The announcement therefore does not establish that a formal repatriation arrangement has been signed or that returns are imminent. It also remains unclear where the Rohingya would be sent, who would guarantee their safety and whether they would receive citizenship, freedom of movement and access to their original homes and land.
Anwar also claimed that Myanmar had agreed to receive 300,000 Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh. However, he did not provide details or clarify whether this referred to a new agreement or refugees whose names had previously been submitted to Myanmar for verification.
In April 2025, Bangladesh said Myanmar had confirmed that 180,000 Rohingya on previously submitted lists were eligible for return, while another 70,000 remained under review. No repatriation followed that announcement.
Previous attempts to begin repatriation from Bangladesh in 2018 and 2019 failed after Rohingya refugees refused to return without credible guarantees of citizenship, security and fundamental rights.
Conditions inside Rakhine State have since deteriorated further. Fighting has displaced additional Rohingya civilians, while the Arakan Army now controls much of northern Rakhine, including areas along the Bangladesh border. This raises further questions about how any return agreement negotiated with Myanmar authorities could be implemented on the ground.
Anwar said Malaysia would continue discussions with Myanmar in search of a longer-term response to the refugee crisis.
The announcement comes amid growing pressure on Rohingya refugees in Malaysia. Earlier this week, Malaysian authorities detained more than 100 Rohingya asylum-seekers, including women and children, after they gathered outside UNHCR’s Kuala Lumpur office seeking protection.
Although police later confirmed that members of the group held valid UNHCR documents and were being temporarily accommodated, the incident intensified concerns about increasing enforcement pressure and hostility directed at Rohingya communities.
Malaysia hosts approximately 126,000 Rohingya registered with UNHCR. The country is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and does not formally recognise refugees under domestic law, leaving even documented asylum-seekers vulnerable to arrest and immigration detention.
Anwar has also warned that authorities will take action against refugees who violate Malaysian law or disrupt public order. However, refugee status or lack of immigration documentation does not remove the requirement that any return be voluntary, informed and conducted with safeguards against persecution.
For Rohingya refugees, repatriation cannot be treated simply as the physical transfer of people to Myanmar. Any credible process would require consultation with the refugees themselves, independent monitoring, protection against forced return, restoration of citizenship and legal identity, freedom of movement, access to homes and land, and guarantees against renewed persecution.
Until Myanmar confirms the agreement and these essential details are disclosed, Anwar’s announcement remains a diplomatic claim rather than an operational repatriation plan.
