KUALA LUMPUR - Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he plans to invite Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing to Malaysia for talks on refugee returns.

Anwar said in a podcast aired on Sept. 16 that he had informed the Home Ministry and Cabinet about the proposed official visit two weeks earlier, with the aim of securing Myanmar’s agreement to take refugees back gradually.

“If 200,000 cannot be taken back at once, take them back gradually,” Bernama quoted him as saying. Anwar also said Malaysia, in line with ASEAN, was not ready to recognise Myanmar’s new government but needed an authority with which to negotiate returns.

Min Aung Hlaing, who led Myanmar’s 2021 military takeover, became president in April following an election dominated by an army-backed party. ASEAN has not recognised the election.

Malaysia initially set Sept. 29 for the first group of 1,476 Myanmar nationals, who the Home Ministry said had agreed to return as part of a wider 5,000-person programme. Two Myanmar Navy warships and a hospital ship are to be used.

Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry subsequently said Malaysia had proposed Sept. 28 and 29 after earlier August dates could not be accommodated, and that Myanmar would rearrange the operation for those dates.

Government spokesperson Fahmi Fadzil said on Sept. 2 that the 1,476 were being held in immigration detention depots and had signed documents indicating they agreed to return voluntarily.

He said Malaysia had received assurances from Myanmar that they would be safe after return. Anwar said on Sept. 16 that earlier negotiations had also included commitments on returnees’ safety and access to medical care.

UNHCR, which is not involved in the planned return, has warned that armed conflict and violence mean conditions in Myanmar are not conducive to safe, dignified and sustainable voluntary return.

The wider 5,000-person group has also been described differently. Anwar said in July that Myanmar had agreed to receive an initial 5,000 Rohingya, while the Home Ministry’s later announcement described the programme as covering eligible Myanmar nationals and did not identify the first 1,476 as Rohingya.

UNHCR recorded 193,824 refugees and asylum-seekers from Myanmar in Malaysia at the end of February, including 126,144 Rohingya.

“Any refugee return must be voluntary, based on an informed decision, and take place in conditions of safety and dignity,” UNHCR said in an emailed statement to Reuters.