Malaysia's Rohingya Reversal: From Safe Haven to Forced Returns

Malaysia has begun sending Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar, marking a dramatic shift away from the tolerant stance the country held for years toward one of the world's most persecuted ethnic groups. On Tuesday, authorities started the repatriation process with an initial group of nearly 1,500 Rohingya, according to reports, with plans to return as many as 5,000 Myanmar nationals in total.

The move has drawn sharp criticism from the United Nations and international human rights organisations, who argue that returning Rohingya to Myanmar places them in grave danger. The Muslim ethnic minority has long been denied citizenship in Myanmar, effectively rendering them stateless, and they remain the target of systematic persecution in Rakhine state.

For the estimated 125,000 Rohingya currently living in Malaysia, life is far from easy, but it has been preferable to what they fled. Because Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention, the Rohingya are not granted official refugee status and cannot access formal education or the national healthcare system. Adults are barred from legal employment and must rely on informal work, including jobs at car washes, in restaurant kitchens, and with courier services.

Riyadh Al Haq, a Rohingya human rights activist whose NGO operates an informal learning centre in a quiet Kuala Lumpur neighbourhood, explained that children from Rohingya families depend on donor generosity to receive any education at all. On a recent morning, students of mixed ages sat cross-legged on the floor, studying the Quran alongside a standard range of academic subjects. "Because of their help, we can teach our kids here," Riyadh told Al Jazeera. He added that Malaysia's kindness had allowed his community to stay and live in the country, describing it as safer than Myanmar.

That sense of relative safety is now under threat. The Malaysian government, led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, insists that all those being returned are volunteers and that their safety and wellbeing are guaranteed. Critics, however, contend that such assurances are meaningless given the ongoing civil war in Myanmar, which erupted after the military seized power in a 2021 coup, removing the democratically elected government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The roots of the Rohingya crisis stretch back decades, but the current exodus was triggered in 2017, when the Myanmar military launched a brutal crackdown in Rakhine state. The campaign involved widespread destruction of Rohingya properties and the killing of thousands of people, forcing more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee, mostly to neighbouring Bangladesh. The violence has been widely condemned as tantamount to genocide.

A genocide case brought by The Gambia is currently before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, with a verdict expected next month or in November. The proceedings underscore the severity of the allegations against Myanmar's military and cast further doubt on the safety of returning Rohingya to the country.

Malaysia's decision to repatriate marks what many observers see as a reversal of its longstanding policy of leniency toward the Rohingya. Despite not being a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention, Malaysia had historically taken a tolerant approach to their arrival, reflecting religious and cultural affinity between Malaysians and the Rohingya, who are fellow Muslims. Many Malaysians extended an unofficial welcome to migrants making the perilous ocean journey on overcrowded boats.

In recent years, however, that goodwill has eroded. Economic pressures and viral social media misinformation campaigns have fueled rising hostility toward refugees and other marginalised groups. Coordinated online petitions calling for the expulsion of refugees have gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures, reflecting a shift in public sentiment.

Nur Sadek, executive director of Rohingya Rights Response, has been monitoring social media content that spreads hateful messaging about the Rohingya. One content creator with thousands of followers has posted a series of clips mocking Rohingya openly to their faces while complaining about how they allegedly smell. In another clip, three self-styled vigilantes are seen stopping and questioning a Rohingya passer-by in the street.

Such incidents illustrate the increasingly hostile environment facing the Rohingya in Malaysia, even as the government prepares to send them back to a country where they remain at risk of persecution. The repatriation operation has renewed international attention on the plight of a community that has already endured decades of displacement and violence.

For now, the children in the Kuala Lumpur learning centre continue their lessons, their futures uncertain. Their families remain in limbo, caught between a host country that no longer wants them and a homeland that has never recognised them as citizens. The coming weeks will determine whether Malaysia's pledge to return 5,000 Myanmar nationals proceeds as planned, and whether the international community can intervene on behalf of a people with nowhere safe to turn.