Myanmar Ready to Accept 5,000 Refugees, Including Rohingya

Rohingya refugee camp. (Wikipedia Commons/Captain Raju)

JAKARTA - Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said on Monday, Myanmar has expressed its willingness to accept 5,000 refugees, including members of the Rohingya ethnic group.

The Malaysian Foreign Minister explained that the issue was discussed in his recent meeting with Myanmar Foreign Minister Tin Maung Swe, reported the Malaysian Government news agency Bernama.

"When I met with the new foreign minister of Myanmar, they expressed their readiness to bring back 5,000 (refugees) by boat," he said at a press conference as quoted by Anadolu (10/8).

"However, the problem is the safety of the 5,000 people," he continued.

He added that the problem of refugees from Myanmar should not be seen only from the perspective of the Rohingya alone, because various other ethnic groups from the country have also become refugees, including the Chin and Karen communities.

Previously, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said in late July that Myanmar had agreed to accept back an initial group of 5,000 Rohingya refugees currently living in Malaysia, following bilateral negotiations.

Malaysia is known to host one of the largest populations of Rohingya refugees in the region. Many of them fled persecution in Rakhine State, Myanmar.

Communication Minister Fahmi Fadzil later said repatriation would not be carried out if they faced the risk of persecution or threats to their lives upon return.

Rohingya ethnic, a Muslim-majority minority group in Myanmar, faces discrimination, persecution, and a stateless status.

It is known that hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled Myanmar since 2017 due to the military and armed groups' violent crackdown.

More than 1.3 million people have sought refuge in Bangladesh, some of whom have reached Indonesia and Malaysia after making the dangerous sea journey.