No Safe Return for Rohingya in Myanmar

Photo: Collected

Arakan Now | 4 Aug 2026

The German human rights organisation Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) has issued a strong warning against the planned 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, they are facing hate campaigns and waves of detention,” said Mirjam Kobold, the GfbV’s Asia Desk Officer.

“The forced return of Rohingya to the still-dangerous situation in Myanmar clearly violates the international principle of non-refoulement, which also applies to Malaysia,” Kobold added.

More than one million Rohingya have been stranded for decades in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, with little prospect of a durable solution. According to UNHCR, around 126,000 Rohingya refugees are currently registered in Malaysia. Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention.

According to the GfbV, Malaysia’s Home Ministry has begun registering Rohingya for possible repatriation after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that Myanmar had agreed to “take back” around 5,000 people.

However, the organization argues that this claimed agreement does not reflect the realities on the ground in Myanmar.

The northern areas of Rakhine State, once predominantly inhabited by Rohingya, are no longer under the control of Myanmar’s military junta—the authority Malaysia says it negotiated with—but are instead controlled by the Arakan Army.

“Human rights organizations such as Fortify Rights continue to document serious abuses there, including restrictions on movement and humanitarian aid blockades by the junta, as well as forced labor and forced recruitment by the Arakan Army,” Kobold said.

“The German government must clearly condemn any plans for forced repatriation under these conditions. Together with the European Union, it should urge Malaysia to halt deportations and support the resumption of UNHCR’s suspended refugee registration,” she added.

Under Myanmar’s 1982 Citizenship Law, the Rohingya are not recognized as citizens. They remain stateless and are denied political rights in their homeland.

Since the spring, a wave of hate speech and disinformation targeting Rohingya has spread across Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok in Malaysia. In the run-up to recent regional elections in Negeri Sembilan, manipulated images and false claims circulated widely. A petition calling for the “removal” of Rohingya gathered nearly half a million signatures before it was taken down.

Rather than countering the hate campaigns, the Malaysian government responded with raids, the closure of Rohingya schools, and the temporary detention of more than 100 refugees who had sought protection outside the UNHCR office.

Myanmar’s military government has not confirmed Malaysia’s claim of an agreement. Officials rejected reports of accepting Rohingya returnees, stating that only “verified citizens” would be accepted—a category that excludes the stateless Rohingya.

UNHCR has also stated that conditions in Myanmar do not currently permit the safe return of refugees and reiterated the international prohibition on refoulement.

Against this backdrop, the GfbV has renewed its appeal to the German government to increase humanitarian assistance for Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, as funding for humanitarian operations continues to face severe cuts.