Rohingya in fear as Malaysia plans to forcibly repatriate 5,000 refugees to Myanmar

Rohingya refugees are living in a state of fear as Malaysian authorities screen Myanmar nationals for repatriation, a Rohingya refugee and activist has told The New Arab.

The plan to repatriate 5,000 people was announced by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday at an election rally, amid rising anti-Rohingya sentiment in the country.

"We have good relations with Myanmar. They have now agreed to take 5,000 Rohingya from Malaysia," Anwar said.

Later, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told reporters that authorities had begun screening Myanmar nationals with refugee status for repatriation, without explicitly mentioning the Rohingya.

Myanmar's ruling junta does not recognise the Rohingya as citizens of their country, making the minority group stateless. The Rohingya, who follow Islam, have been described as the most persecuted ethnic group in the world.

According to The Associated Press, officials in Myanmar's capital Naypyitaw rejected reports that the government would accept them.

"This is not about bringing back Bengalis. There are Myanmar nationals who are being held in detention centers in Malaysia for various reasons," Han Win Aung told the AP. "Both sides are still at the stage of coordinating to repatriate only those whose identity as genuine Myanmar citizens has been verified."

The Myanmar government frequently describe Rohingya as "Bengalis", as a way of denying their rights as natives of Myanmar.

Nur Sadek, a Rohingya refugee in Malaysia and founding memeber of Rohingya Rights Response (RRR), said many within his community are in fear over who the policy will affect.

"There is significant fear, uncertainty, and anxiety within the Rohingya community following this announcement. Many refugees fled Myanmar after experiencing persecution, violence, or the loss of their homes and family members. The prospect of being returned without clear information about the process or safety guarantees has left many people deeply worried," Sadek told The New Arab.

"Many are asking who the 5,000 people will be, whether returns will be voluntary, and whether they will have any opportunity to make informed decisions," he added.

Rise in tensions

Despite not being a signatory to the UN refugee convention, Malaysia is host to over 200,000 refugees, with 126,000 of those who are officially registered being Rohingya.

The Muslim-majority country has hosted Rohingya refugees for decades, with that number spiking after the beginning of the 2017 genocide in Myanmar.

While they were broadly welcomed at first, relations with locals have soured in recent years.

"This anxiety has also come at a time when the community has experienced increasing hostility in Malaysia, including a rise in online hate speech, harassment, school closures, and recent enforcement actions against Rohingya refugees," Sadek told The New Arab.

Earlier this week, around 100 Rohingya were evicted from their homes locals in the northern state of Penang. The refugees headed to the capital Kuala Lumpur and gathered outside the UN's refugee agency office, where they were detained by authorities and later released.

Not safe to return

On Thursday, Malaysia's largest Rohingya organisation urged Anwar to work with UNHCR before repatriations begin, warning that the move could send refugees back into an active conflict zone.

The Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organisation said in a statement that the plan would violate "the core international law principle of non-refoulement, which bans returning people to a place where their lives are threatened".

"The Rohingya are stateless... There is no way we can return home safely when we face ongoing genocide back home," it said.

Sadek highlighted to The New Arab that the the majority of the Rohingya are from Myanmar's Rakhine state, which is under the control of the Arakan army, which along with the ruling junta, has been accused of atrocities and crimes against humanity.

Myanmar's military junta is the subject of ongoing genocide proceedings at the International Court of Justice, after a filing by The Gambia in 2019.