Myanmar's coup leader-turned-president welcomed in Malaysia despite war
Malaysia hosted Min Aung Hlaing with an honour guard and offered to help him rejoin ASEAN, even as fighting continues across Myanmar.
At a glance
- Malaysia gave Myanmar's Min Aung Hlaing a red-carpet welcome and offered to help him rejoin ASEAN.
- Anwar Ibrahim said Myanmar would take back its nationals at its own cost; Malaysia hosts about 193,000 of them, mostly Rohingya.
- The civil war is in its fifth year, with as many as 100,000 killed and at least 3.5 million displaced, monitoring groups say.
Myanmar's coup leader-turned-president Min Aung Hlaing received a red-carpet welcome in Kuala Lumpur last week, honour guard included, on a visit that critics say has handed his military government international legitimacy while civil war continues at home.
Malaysia had insisted the September invitation did not amount to recognition, saying its purpose was to address the "longstanding issue" of refugees and migrants from Myanmar living in the country. After an official luncheon on Thursday, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Myanmar was prepared to take its nationals back at its own cost — a message with appeal in Malaysia, where anti-refugee sentiment is growing and about 193,000 Myanmar nationals live, most of them from the Rohingya Muslim minority.
"Because the weather is favourable, I will dispatch Navy ships to repatriate them," Min Aung Hlaing said.
Anwar pledged to help bring Myanmar back into ASEAN, the 11-member bloc that has barred Min Aung Hlaing from high-level meetings for refusing to carry out its peace plan, the Five Point Consensus, which calls for an end to violence and "constructive dialogue" between the warring parties. Malaysia had been a vocal supporter of that plan.
A widening welcome
Malaysia is the fifth ASEAN country to host Min Aung Hlaing since he became president in April, after elections held in December and January in which major opposition parties were barred from taking part. He has also visited Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, and his spokesperson said Indonesia and Brunei could be next. Beyond the region, he has travelled to India, China, Russia and Belarus since April, pitching trade and infrastructure deals and presenting his government as stable and on a path to democracy.
Bridget Welsh, an honorary research associate at the University of Nottingham's Asia Research Institute in Kuala Lumpur, said Malaysia's reversal "has broken a dam of opposition to the junta". She said regional leaders were putting pragmatism ahead of human rights, and that the shift gave the military a legitimacy "it does not have in Myanmar itself".
Reuters reported last week that the United States has begun direct talks with his government despite sanctions over human rights abuses, focusing on shutting down scam centres that have defrauded Americans of billions of dollars.
Fighting continues
The civil war is now in its fifth year and has killed as many as 100,000 people and displaced at least 3.5 million, according to monitoring groups. Government forces have launched offensives to retake territory lost to opposition and ethnic armed groups in Rakhine, Chin, Kachin and Karen states and the Sagaing region, aided by an intensified air campaign and a recruitment drive that has added tens of thousands of troops.
Khin Zaw Win, director of the Tampadipa Institute in Yangon, said China, India and Thailand — all of which border Myanmar — have driven the push for recognition, having the "biggest stakes" in how the country turns out. "Convenience plays a part for all of them," he said.
Former Dutch diplomat Laetitia van den Assum said the military is unlikely to regain control of the whole country, which would require a huge occupation army rather than the garrison force it now has. She said she found it "quite surprising" that ASEAN states are seeking Rohingya repatriation from the man accused of orchestrating crimes against them. Myanmar denies the Rohingya citizenship, and much of their homeland, Rakhine State, is held by the ethnic Arakan Army.
Sai Kyi Zin Soe of the University of Sydney called the August 3 ICRC visit to detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi — which produced her first photographs in years — a "low-cost, high-optics gesture". Air raids have continued, including a September 28 strike on a market in Rakhine State that killed an estimated 50 people.
Phil Robertson of Asia Human Rights and Labor Advocates urged ASEAN chairs the Philippines and Singapore to push back against re-engagement, and called on the US, UK, Canada, Australia and the EU to adopt targeted sanctions such as an aviation fuel ban.
Source: Al Jazeera.
Questions and answers
- Why did Malaysia host Myanmar's Min Aung Hlaing?
- Malaysia said the September visit was meant to address the "longstanding issue" of refugees and migrants from Myanmar, and insisted it did not amount to recognition. Malaysia hosts about 193,000 Myanmar nationals, most of them Rohingya.
- Who is Min Aung Hlaing?
- He is the former general whose 2021 power grab triggered Myanmar's civil war. He became president in April after elections held in December and January that major opposition parties were barred from contesting.
- Is Myanmar's civil war still ongoing?
- Yes. Monitoring groups say the war is in its fifth year and has killed as many as 100,000 people and displaced at least 3.5 million, with fighting continuing in Rakhine, Chin, Kachin and Karen states and the Sagaing region.
