- Published
The Malaysian government has started repatriating around 5,000 asylum seekers from Myanmar, under a controversial deal agreed with Myanmar's military ruler Min Aung Hlaing.
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government → publish → ruler
Three ships from the Myanmar navy are scheduled to leave Malaysia later today carrying the first 1,476 returnees.
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ships → schedule → returnees
Human rights groups have condemned the repatriation, saying the returnees face violence, persecution and forced conscription into the Myanmar army.
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returnees → condemn → army
Malaysia has described the repatriation as voluntary, but has barred the UN refugee agency from seeing or screening the returnees, who have been kept in detention centres.
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who → describe → centres
According to Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, these returnees will include Rohingyas: a persecuted Muslim minority who have sought sanctuary in Malaysia in large numbers after being driven out of Myanmar, where they are not recognised as citizens.
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they → accord → citizens
Anwar, whose popularity has fallen sharply this year, says he is responding to growing public hostility towards the large Rohingya population in Malaysia and has no choice but to negotiate with the Myanmar government over their return.
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he → fall → return
But the move signals a striking shift in attitude.
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move → signal → attitude
Anwar, a former political prisoner, has previously presented himself as a defender of human rights and freedom, and called for more to be done to help the Rohingyas.
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more → present → Rohingyas
Under him, Malaysia has refused to recognise Min Aung Hlaing's regime, and has been one of the strongest voices in South East Asia pushing for a negotiated end to Myanmar's civil war.
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Malaysia → refuse → war
What has changed?
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What → change → ?
First, increased economic strain on lower-income Malaysians since the Covid pandemic, which has stirred resentment of the Rohingyas.
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which → increase → Rohingyas
Second, the febrile state of Malaysian politics since 2018, when a historic election unseated the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the ethnic Malay party which had monopolised power for more than 60 years, leading to a revolving door of unstable coalition governments.
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which → unseat → governments
In August 2017, a brutal campaign by the Myanmar military drove three quarters of a million Rohingyas out of their homes in Rakhine State and into neighbouring Bangladesh.
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campaign → drive → Bangladesh
In the years since, dire conditions in Bangladeshi refugee camps have driven those with enough money to make the perilous sea journey to Malaysia in search of sanctuary and work.
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conditions → drive → sanctuary
While the Malaysian navy and coastguard have long tried to block Rohingya boats from landing in Malaysia, many gotten in via other routes, and for a long time were tolerated.
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many → try → time
More than 200,000 are now believed to live there, most eking out basic livings from manual labour.
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most → believe → labour
Sentiment among Malaysians started to shift during the pandemic, which hit the country's economy hard.
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which → start → economy
At a time of heightened public fear over the new coronavirus, accusations against Rohingya migrants spread on social media, with demands for their deportation.
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accusations → heighten → deportation
In response, the then-government hardened its attitude, saying Malaysia could accept no more refugees and ordering raids on communities believed to be harbouring illegal immigrants.
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Malaysia → harden → immigrants
Much the same has happened in 2026.
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same → happen → 2026
In May, an online complaint claimed that Rohingyas had failed to dispose of animal waste properly after the Muslim Eid al Adha festival, igniting a viral social media campaign falsely accusing Rohingya leaders of demanding land and citizenship in Malaysia.
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Rohingyas → claim → Malaysia
Shortly thereafter, an online petition on Change.org calling for Rohingyas to be kicked out of Malaysia received more than 400,000 signatures, before being taken down.
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Rohingyas → call → signatures
A PM under pressure
Given Anwar's one-time reputation as a champion of liberal values, he might have been expected to push back against this wave of hate and disinformation.
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he → give → hate
He has said the Rohingyas should be treated humanely.
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Rohingyas → say → ?
"We can arrest them, but do not beat, intimidate or humiliate them," he said in a recent podcast interview - although this is exactly what human rights groups have accused Malaysian officials of doing in immigration detention centres.
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groups → arrest → centres
Nonetheless, Anwar insists that the Rohingya must be expelled.
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Rohingya → insist → ?
"They have clearly become a burden," he said in the same interview.
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he → become → interview
Some of his former supporters have accused him of betraying his principles.
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Some → accuse → principles
The former head of the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission, Latheefa Koya, says his decision is "disgraceful, amoral, and shames the nation in the eyes of the international community".
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decision → say → community
Once described as a perpetual prime minister-in-waiting, he finally got the top job in 2022, but only by forming an uneasy coalition with his one-time adversaries UMNO.
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he → describe → adversaries
Since then he has seen his own popularity plunge and his party lose seats in recent local elections.
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party → see → elections
He must call a general election by early 2028.
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He → call → 2028
"He is in a corner, at his weakest point", says Tricia Yeoh, Director of the Asian Institute for Policy and Engagement at the University of Nottingham Malaysia.
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Yeoh → say → Nottingham
"He has been forced to make concessions to his UMNO partners...
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He → force → partners
There have been several corruption scandals, and his own party is divided.
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party → divide → ?
And after four years of telling voters this is what is required to maintain his fragile coalition, they are no longer willing to go along with that narrative.
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they → tell → narrative
Instead, Yeoh says, ethnic Malays, who make up more than half of the electorate, are responding to the well-trodden UMNO narrative that they need special support and protection from the state - the kind of racial politics which she says feeds fear and resentment of outsiders.
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she → say → outsiders
"It's the same narrative you hear in the rest of the world, about immigrants taking jobs, that we should not be spending our public funds on facilities for them."
Forced home
However, it is not clear how any Rohingyas can be repatriated to Myanmar, where they are not recognised as citizens.
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they → hear → citizens
Rohingyas are not permitted to travel inside Myanmar, and are only allowed to live in Rakhine State, which borders Bangladesh.
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which → permit → Bangladesh
On Monday, the day before the repatriation, the Arakan Army said two bombs killed 49 people at a market in the town of Kyauktaw.
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bombs → say → Kyauktaw
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
