Myanmar setuju bawa pulang 5,000 pelariannya guna kapal, kata Tok Mat

Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan has revealed that Myanmar has agreed to repatriate 5,000 of its citizens from Malaysia using boats. This information was shared with him during a meeting with a Malaysian counterpart, though the source of the cost for transporting the refugees back was not disclosed. According to him, the repatriation process needs to be expedited as the 5,000 Rohingya refugees are already known.

The focus is on ensuring their safety when they are sent back. He emphasized that safety should be considered when they are repatriated, asking what will happen to them and if they will be safe. Before the Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that Myanmar agreed to take back 5,000 of its refugees, the Minister, known as Tok Mat, stated that while it is a domestic issue, it needs to be managed jointly.

This is because, he said, Asean leaders have previously agreed to introduce a set of basic work principles, including the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence (5PC) to tackle issues in Myanmar. The repatriation process should follow the 5PC, which outlines a ceasefire, dialogue among all parties involved, and the appointment and use of a special Asean representative to facilitate the process.

It also includes Asean's role in providing humanitarian aid to Myanmar's suffering people and allowing the Asean representative to visit Myanmar and meet all relevant parties. Mohamad clarified that this does not only concern the Rohingya, but all ethnic refugees from Myanmar. The best we can say is that repatriating Myanmar refugees, not just Rohingya, is what Malaysia needs to handle.

In Asean, we all see the refugee issue as something to be dealt with jointly, which is why Asean Centrality on the Myanmar issue is a shared issue, he stressed, reaffirming Asean's desire for the 5PC to remain the cornerstone mechanism for Myanmar.