Burmese leader seeks legitimacy in Malaysia visit

ABOUT-FACE: Despite giving the Burmese military the cold shoulder for years, Malaysia is welcoming the regime with open arms, human rights activists said

• Reuters and AFP, KUALA LUMPUR

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Myanmar’s junta chief-turned-president Min Aung Hlaing arrived in Malaysia yesterday for talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, as the military-backed leader once shunned by regional nations seeks international legitimacy.

The two-day visit comes as Malaysia pushes ahead with a controversial move to repatriate thousands of Myanmar nationals, despite warnings from the UN and rights groups that returnees could face serious danger amid a raging civil war.

“The visit provides the prime minister with an opportunity to sustain his direct engagement with Myanmar,” the Malaysian government said in a statement on Tuesday.

Burmese President Min Aung Hlaing, center, arrives at Kuala Lumpur International Airport yesterday.

Photo: Myanmar presidential press and information bureau via via EPA

Key bilateral issues include the “voluntary, dignified and safe repatriation of Myanmar nationals of all ethnic groups who have been in Malaysia illegally,” it added.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, triggering a nationwide civil war that has killed an estimated 100,000 people and displaced more than 3.5 million.

The military engineered a widely criticized election that allowed Min Aung Hlaing, who is subject to a raft of Western sanctions, to take up a civilian role — a transition that has sparked some moves toward re-engagement with Myanmar.

Although Min Aung Hlaing and other senior Myanmar officials have been excluded from ASEAN summits since 2021 over their failure to implement a peace road map brokered by the group, individual countries in the region have moved to rebuild ties with Naypyitaw.

Since formally becoming president in April, Min Aung Hlaing has visited ASEAN members Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, and also made trips to China, India, Russia and Belarus.

In Malaysia, following a wave of online hate speech and misinformation earlier this year, pressure on undocumented migrants and refugees has grown, particularly against Rohingya Muslims, many of whom fled a brutal 2017 military crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine state bordering Bangladesh.

Last month, Anwar said in a podcast that he would invite Min Aung Hlaing for an official visit if Myanmar accepted the return of thousands of Rohingya refugees.

“Under pressure to send refugees back, Anwar needs Naypyitaw’s cooperation, and a visit is the price,” International Crisis Group senior Asia adviser Richard Horsey said. “He says this is not recognition, but Min Aung Hlaing will present it as exactly that.”

Fortify Rights senior human rights specialist Yap Lay Sheng agreed, saying that the Migrant returns are the “only reason” Malaysia wants to engage with Myanmar.

“For so many years Malaysia has shown the military regime the cold shoulder,” he said. “Suddenly there’s a 180 degree about turn to welcome the regime with open arms.”

Malaysia has deported about 10,000 Myanmar nationals since January, according to Anwar, who said Burmese authorities had given assurances those returning would not be harmed.

Although Malaysia has said the repatriations are strictly voluntary, the UN has raised concerns about the move, warning that people sent back to Myanmar might face serious risks.

Rights groups have also urged Malaysia to halt the returns, citing the ongoing violence and risk of forced conscription.

Despite repeated calls for an end to the violence, including from ASEAN, the civil war in Myanmar continues unabated.

The Burmese military has carried out several airstrikes within the last fortnight in Rakhine, where it is battling a rebel group, killing at least 58 people and injuring dozens of others, including at a busy market.

The attack was the deadliest since a hospital bombing in December and drew condemnation from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

ASEAN’s current chair, the Philippines, also expressed concern over the airstrike.

“Nothing in the region’s response gives Naypyitaw any reason to think they will come at a diplomatic cost, including Min Aung Hlaing’s red carpet in Kuala Lumpur,” Horsey said.