KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will seek an explanation from Myanmar over reports that hundreds of its nationals recently repatriated are being held by the country’s military, foreign minister Mohamad Hasan said.
“If there are reports that 300 people are still being detained, we will ask the Myanmar government for an explanation,” Mohamad said when winding up the debate on the 2027 budget for his ministry in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to Ahmad Tarmizi Sulaiman (PN-Sik), who wanted to know the government’s response to news reports of the alleged detention.
Myanmar news outlet Democratic Voice of Burma had reported on Oct 22 that more than 400 ethnic Rakhine residents remained in military custody in Yangon after being repatriated from Malaysia.
Mohamad said Malaysia would ask its chargé d'affaires in Myanmar to investigate the claims, adding that Myanmar had guaranteed their safety.
A total of 1,476 Myanmar nationals had arrived in Yangon on Oct 4 aboard three Myanmar naval vessels as part of a bilateral repatriation and registration initiative.
Another 3,524 are expected to be sent home in the second phase.
Separately, Mohamad said he had verbally invited Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to visit Malaysia twice, but Abbas had yet to commit to a date. He said Abbas appreciated Malaysia’s support for Palestine.
He also said he might ask Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to send a formal invitation.
On the haze, Mohamad defended Malaysia’s use of diplomacy with Indonesia, saying it did not want to damage wider ties by publicly lashing out at its neighbour.
“We have much that is good in our relationship. Some 95% to 98% of it is good. Are we going to destroy 90% of that over just 2%?” he said.
Earlier this month, Mohamad had said Putrajaya would continue to use diplomatic channels and Asean mechanisms to address the transboundary haze issue with Indonesia.
On a separate issue, Mohamad said many Malaysian diplomatic buildings overseas were ageing and needed repairs, with some in such poor condition that they reflected badly on the country.
He said the foreign ministry had been allocated RM225 million for development next year, covering 21 projects. Of these, 18 were continuing projects, and three were new.