Malaysian Bar says Rohingya return to Burma must be voluntary
Lawyers warn against sending 5,000 refugees back to country where Rohingya still face persecution, citing international law
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (MNTV) — The Malaysian Bar has urged the government to ensure that any plan to return 5,000 Rohingya refugees to Burma is voluntary, informed, and safe, warning against forcing people back to a country where the mostly Muslim minority still faces persecution.
The Rohingya have fled Burma, also called Myanmar by the ruling military junta, in large numbers after decades of state-backed violence.
The call follows Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement that Burma had agreed to take back 5,000 Rohingya from Malaysia, after which the Home Ministry began screening candidates for return, Business Today reported.
Bar president Anand Raj said the government must uphold the principle of non-refoulement — the international-law rule barring the return of people to places where they face persecution, torture, or serious harm — which he noted Malaysia has acknowledged since 2015.
He urged authorities to disclose the terms of the arrangement and assess each refugee individually rather than conduct a blanket repatriation.
The Bar’s concerns come amid heightened scrutiny of Malaysia’s treatment of the Rohingya.
More than 100 asylum-seekers, including women and children, were recently taken to a police headquarters after seeking shelter outside the UN refugee agency’s Kuala Lumpur office following an eviction.
Police said they were taken for verification, not detained, but the Bar argued the move amounted to an arrest and that the group retained constitutional protections.
The Bar also urged Malaysia to build a rights-respecting refugee framework through consultation with refugees, the UN, and civil society, and to ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention — the treaty defining refugees’ rights, which Malaysia has never joined.
No one, it said, should be returned to a real risk of persecution, torture, or genocide.
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