Malaysia’s prime minister has promised to do “whatever is possible” to bring Myanmar back into the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN, after hosting its military-backed president. Rights groups accuse him of legitimising a leader whose election was widely seen as illegitimate.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has said his government will work to bring Myanmar back into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Al Jazeera reported.
He was speaking on Thursday, October 8, after talks with Myanmar’s military-backed president, Min Aung Hlaing.
What Anwar Said
Malaysia “will do whatever is possible to make sure that we enhance this collaboration and ultimately, take Myanmar as part of our community of nations, without prejudice, and particularly in the context of ASEAN,” Anwar told a media briefing.
The two leaders also discussed cooperation on trade, energy, security and economic matters.
Why Myanmar Is Outside
Myanmar has been excluded from high-level ASEAN political meetings since 2021, over its lack of progress on a peace plan proposed by the bloc.
That was the year Min Aung Hlaing led a coup, which set off a civil war that is still going on. He became president in April. The two-day visit to Malaysia is his first since then, and part of a wider effort to end the country’s diplomatic isolation.
Sending People Back
Anwar said he would keep working with Myanmar on the repatriation of thousands of its nationals. Myanmar has accepted the return of 10,493 people so far, he said.
He said returns would take place on a “voluntary, safe and dignified basis”. Min Aung Hlaing said Myanmar would accept more migrants held in Malaysia “as soon as possible”.
It is not clear whether any of those returned are Rohingya, the Muslim minority who face persecution in Myanmar and have been denied citizenship.
The Criticism
Rights groups have criticised Anwar for sending migrants back to a country where more than 100,000 people have been killed since 2021.
He has also been accused of lending legitimacy to Min Aung Hlaing, who was formally elected in April after a vote widely seen as illegitimate.
A day before the talks, Human Rights Watch called on Anwar to press Min Aung Hlaing to end human rights abuses and to halt what it described as plans to “forcibly return” people who had fled.
Image: Anwar Ibrahim, now Malaysia’s prime minister, speaking in London in 2014 (file photo). Photo by Chatham House via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
