Reports of Forced Repatriations: No Safety for the Rohingya in Myanmar

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) issues an urgent warning about the impending forced repatriation of thousands of Rohingya from Malaysia to Myanmar: “There is no safe place for the Rohingya. They are fleeing persecution by the military and the de facto rule of the Arakan Army in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. In Malaysia, smear campaigns and waves of detentions are raging against them,” reports Mirjam Kobold, STP’s Advisor for Asia. “Forcing them back into the still-dangerous situation in Myanmar clearly violates the prohibition against refoulement under international law, which also applies to Malaysia.” In addition to the more than one million Rohingya who have been stranded for decades—in ever-new waves of flight—without any prospects in the camps of Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, the UNHCR has registered approximately 126,000 Rohingya refugees in Malaysia. The country has not signed the Geneva Convention on Refugees.

Malaysia’s Ministry of Home Affairs has begun registering Rohingya for repatriation after Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that Myanmar had agreed to “take back” approximately 5,000 people. However, this alleged commitment fails to address the situation in Myanmar. The northern areas of Rakhine State, once predominantly inhabited by Rohingya, are no longer under the control of the military government—with which Malaysia claims to have negotiated—but rather under the control of the Arakan Army. “Human rights organizations such as Fortify Rights are documenting ongoing abuses there—restrictions on movement and aid blockades by the junta, as well as forced labor and forced recruitment by the Arakan Army,” explains Kobold. “The German government must clearly condemn plans for forced repatriation to this situation. Together with the EU, it must press Malaysia to ensure that no deportations take place and that the suspended re-registration process by the UNHCR is resumed,” Kobold demands. Under the 1982 Citizenship Law, the Rohingya are not recognized as citizens of Myanmar. To this day, they remain stateless and enjoy no political rights in their homeland.

Since this spring, a wave of hate speech and disinformation targeting the Rohingya has been sweeping through Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Particularly in the run-up to the regional elections in Negeri Sembilan a few days ago, manipulated images and false claims circulated more extensively. A petition calling for the “removal” of the Rohingya gathered nearly half a million signatures before it was taken down. Instead of taking countermeasures, the government responded with raids, the closure of Rohingya schools, and, most recently, the temporary detention of more than one hundred refugees who had sought protection at the UNHCR office.

Myanmar’s government has not confirmed the pledge; however, government officials rejected reports of a repatriation of the Rohingya and spoke only of “verified nationals,” which excludes the stateless Rohingya. The UNHCR also stated that conditions in Myanmar do not currently allow for a safe return and cited the principle of non-refoulement.

Against this backdrop, the STP once again calls on the German government to increase aid for the people in Cox’s Bazar, particularly in light of drastically reduced humanitarian funding.

This press release was translated from German to English using AI. If you come across errors or ambiguities, please contact us at 65]G378o6DD6CA.