Joanna Chong
More than 126,000 Rohingya refugees are registered with the UN agency (UNHCR) in Malaysia, many without legal status or recognised citizenship after years in the country. Whether any can be sent back may depend on whether Myanmar considers them as “genuine Myanmar citizens.” Even those accepted for return face uncertainty as fighting continues in Rakhine State, raising questions about their safety.
When Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that Myanmar had agreed to accept an initial group of 5,000 Rohingya refugees from Malaysia, it was seen as a diplomatic breakthrough in one of Southeast Asia’s longest-running refugee crises.
But almost immediately, questions emerged over who Myanmar would actually accept.
Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry official Han Win Aung told the Associated Press that the programme was “not about bringing back Bengalis.” Myanmar authorities often use the term “Bengalis” to portray Rohingya as immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, rather than as a population that has lived in Rakhine State for generations.
His comments raise a fundamental question: are Malaysia and Myanmar referring to the same 5,000 people?
The difference in how the two countries describe the group emerged as the plan took shape.
The plan was first mentioned in Parliament on July 23 by Malaysia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Lukanisman bin Awang Sauni. Six days later, on July 29, Anwar publicly described the group as Rohingyawhile speaking at a public event in Negeri Sembilan.
The following day, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the government had identified up to 4,000 Myanmar nationals in immigration depots across the country. They would be moved to a single site for screening and documentation as part of preparations to repatriate 5,000 people.
Myanmar then set out its own terms for the proposed return. “This is not about bringing back Bengalis. There are Myanmar nationals who are being held in detention centres in Malaysia for various reasons,” Aung told the Associated Press. “Both sides are still at the stage of coordinating to repatriate only those whose identity as genuine Myanmar citizens has been verified.”
The distinction matters because Myanmar’s citizenship system does not recognise Rohingya as one of the country’s officially recognised ethnic groups.
Under Myanmar’s 1982 Citizenship Law, full citizenship is granted to people who belong to the country’s “national races.” Rohingya are not included among the 135 officially recognised national ethnic groups, creating major barriers to full citizenship.
The law provides other pathways to citizenship, meaning that not every Rohingya is automatically excluded from applying for citizenship. But human rights groups have documented the barriers Rohingya face in obtaining citizenship, and how the citizenship system has been used to exclude Rohingya and undermine recognition of their identity.
One mechanism used for disputed citizenship claims is the National Verification Card (NVC). It is a temporary identity document, not proof of citizenship, and does not give holders the same rights as Myanmar citizens. During earlier repatriation efforts, Rohingya had to undergo NVC verification.
Fortify Rights has criticised the NVC process as a mechanism to “erase Rohingya identity.” It has documented cases in which Rohingya applicants were required to identify themselves as “Bengali” or as having another foreign identity during the process.
The same rights group has also documented cases in which Myanmar authorities destroyed or confiscated Rohingya’s original documents over the decades, potentially making it harder for individuals to prove their identity and links to Myanmar.
It is not yet clear whether the NVC will form part of the current repatriation programme. Malaysia has not publicly explained what evidence it will use to determine whether someone meets Myanmar’s standard.
That leaves a key question for the current plan: how will Malaysia determine which people Myanmar will accept?
According to Home Minister, Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, authorities are using the Dokumen Pendaftaran Pelarian (DPP), or Refugee Registration Document, as part of the screening process for the proposed repatriation.
Launched in January, the DPP is Malaysia’s new system for collecting biometric and personal information from refugees and asylum seekers. It has taken over the registration role previously managed by the UNHCR. In July, the government ordered the agency to temporarily stop registering new refugees in the country.
Human Rights Watch has previously raised concerns that the DPP lacks basic safeguards, including protections against discrimination, data protection and the right to appeal rejected claims.
As of early July, about six months after the DPP launched and before the announcement of the current repatriation plan, only 128 people had completed the screening process. Of those, 78 were granted refugee status, including 25 approved to work. The remaining 50 had no clear outcome.
The limited number of completed screenings raises questions about how Malaysia will identify and verify the 5,000 people proposed for repatriation.
It remains unclear which information collected through the DPP will be used to determine who is eligible for return.
Asylum Access Malaysia, which works directly with refugees and asylum seekers in the country, told The Muslim News there was no publicly available information on how the DPP would operate in relation to the proposed returns. This includes how a person’s nationality would be determined if it is disputed, and what would happen if Myanmar declines to accept someone identified by Malaysia for return.
The screening process is still developing. On August 18, the Home Ministry was directed to submit data on verified individuals to the Cabinet by the end of the year.
Even if Malaysia and Myanmar agree on who qualifies, verification alone does not mean people will be able to return immediately.
Myanmar’s latest statement suggested that security conditions must also improve.
In its August 15 statement, Myanmar said it had verified nearly 309,000 people in Bangladesh as former residents of Rakhine State. However, it said that their return could begin only when security conditions in the state improved.
A similar pattern emerged in 2018 and 2019, when Myanmar and Bangladesh set three separate dates for repatriation, but none went ahead. Myanmar cited security concerns and refugees refused to go back without guarantees of safety and rights.
On August 5, government spokesperson Fahmi Fadzil said Malaysia would not proceed with any return that put someone’s life at risk, adding that discussions with Myanmar over the criteria for repatriation were still ongoing. The government has not publicly explained how that assessment will be carried out.
But fighting in Rakhine State continues.
The Arakan Army, an ethnic armed group, has been fighting Myanmar’s military for control of territory in Rakhine State, while Rohingya civilians have been caught between the two sides. A recent UN report described how the conflict had intensified significantly, with civilians facing violence, movement restrictions and further displacement.
Myanmar has not publicly specified what conditions would be sufficient for repatriation to begin.
Under the previous UNHCR system, which followed international refugee-protection standards, return should be voluntary and take place only when people can return safely and understand the risks involved. Neither government has described the process as a voluntary return programme.
Malaysia’s past deportation practices may provide a relevant precedent. In February 2021, Malaysia deported more than 1,000 Myanmar nationals just weeks after the military coup, despite a court order seeking to halt the removals. Officials said the group did not include Rohingya or people registered with UNHCR, but the agency and other rights groups later reported that people holding UNHCR documents were among those returned.
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