Malaysia PM says will work on Myanmar’s ASEAN reintegration

Malaysia’s prime minister has said his government will do “whatever possible” to ensure Myanmar’s reintegration into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), after hosting talks with Myanmar’s military-backed President Min Aung Hlaing.

The Myanmar leader is in Malaysia for a two-day visit, his first since he became president in April, as part of a wider diplomatic push to bring the country back into the international fold after staging a 2021 coup that triggered an ongoing civil war.

“I would say that we and our part in 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,” Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told a media briefing following the talks on Thursday.

Myanmar has been excluded from high-level ASEAN political meetings since 2021 over the lack of progress in implementing a peace plan proposed by the bloc.

Ibrahim also said he would continue working with Min Aung Hlaing on the repatriation of thousands of Myanmar nationals, adding that Myanmar had accepted the return of 10,493 of its nationals so far.

It is unclear if any of the returnees included minority Muslim Rohingya, who are facing persecution in Myanmar and have been denied citizenship.

Anwar added that the repatriation of Myanmar nationals would be carried out on a “voluntary, safe and dignified basis”.

Min Aung Hlaing told the news conference that Myanmar will accept more migrants held in Malaysia “as soon as possible”.

The two leaders also spoke about how to deepen cooperation across several areas, including trade, energy, security and economic matters.

Anwar has faced criticism from rights groups for repatriating migrants to Myanmar, where more than 100,000 people have been killed since 2021. He has also been accused of legitimising the presidency of Min Aung Hlaing, who was formally elected in April following a vote widely seen as illegitimate.

On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch called on Anwar to pressure Min Aung Hlaing to end human rights abuses in Myanmar and to halt what it described as plans to “forcibly return” people who had fled the country.