KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian government initiated the repatriation of an initial group of nearly 1,500 Rohingya refugees to Myanmar on Tuesday, marking a significant shift in the nation’s approach to one of the world’s most persecuted minorities.
For years, Malaysia has offered a sanctuary to an estimated 125,000 Rohingya who fled brutality in their home state of Rakhine, western Myanmar. However, officials under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim have now pledged to return a total of 5,000 Myanmar nationals, a move that human rights groups and the United Nations have strongly criticized due to the unsafe conditions in the conflict-torn country.
Life for Rohingya refugees in Malaysia remains precarious. Denied access to formal education and the national healthcare system, families rely on informal learning centers and unofficial support networks. Parents are prohibited from working in the formal economy, forcing them into informal sectors such as car washes, restaurant kitchens, and courier services.
“Because of their kindness, our people can stay in this country. We are more safe than in Myanmar,” said Riyadh Al Haq, a Rohingya human rights activist whose NGO operates one such learning center in Kuala Lumpur. Despite these hardships, many refugees still view Malaysia as a refuge compared to the violence they escaped.
The 2017 military crackdown in Myanmar, which involved widespread killings and destruction of property, forced over 700,000 Rohingya into exile. The International Court of Justice is expected to deliver a verdict next month on a genocide case brought by The Gambia. Furthermore, Myanmar has been engulfed in civil war since the military seized power in a 2021 coup, ousting the democratically elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Kuala Lumpur maintains that all individuals being returned are volunteers and that their safety is guaranteed. Critics argue that such assurances are meaningless given the active civil war and persistent ethnic persecution in Rakhine state.
Domestically, public sentiment toward the Rohingya is eroding. While Malaysians historically showed religious and cultural affinity toward the Muslim minority, economic pressures and coordinated social media misinformation campaigns have fueled hostility. Online petitions calling for the expulsion of refugees have gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures, and reports of harassment against Rohingya in public spaces have increased.
Nur Sadek, executive director of Rohingya Rights Response, noted that fear of intimidation has restricted the community’s ability to secure even menial employment. “A lot of the community members are very afraid to go outside and to be recognised as a Rohingya,” Sadek said.
With national elections scheduled for early next year, political analysts warn that the Rohingya issue may become a tool for vote-winning, potentially leaving the refugee community as the latest casualties of shifting political tides.
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