KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Wednesday he would invite Myanmar's junta chief-turned-President Min Aung Hlaing for an official visit in return for his government accepting the return of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees.
Min Aung Hlaing, a retired general who seized power in a 2021 coup, has been on a quest for international legitimacy since becoming president in April following an election dominated by an army-backed party in the absence of a viable opposition.
Anwar said Malaysia, like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc, was not ready to recognise Myanmar's new government, but needed an authority to negotiate with on returning refugees.
"We, following ASEAN, don't want direct relations with Myanmar. So who are we supposed to negotiate with?" Anwar said during a podcast.
"I invited him to say we can be friends, we can trade, we can accept Myanmar, but Myanmar must accept them (refugees) back."
ASEAN has not recognised Myanmar's election and, since 2021, has barred its leaders from its summits amid a civil war that has killed an estimated 100,000 people, with the military widely accused of atrocities against the civilian population, which it rejects.
Malaysia has been one of the most vocal critics of Myanmar's former junta and had repeatedly expressed frustration at its refusal to cease hostilities.
It would be the fifth of ASEAN's 11 members to host Min Aung Hlaing after his recent visits to Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. He has also visited China, India and Russia.
'THEY NEED TO BE SENT HOME'
Malaysia last month said it had finalised the first phase of a voluntary repatriation programme that would return 1,500 Myanmar refugees in September. Malaysia had around 193,800 refugees from Myanmar as of February, according to the UNHCR, which has said it is not safe for them to return there.
Rohingya are a persecuted minority and tens of thousands have fled Myanmar each year, many making perilous sea journeys on rickety boats in search of better lives. More than a million live in crowded camps in Bangladesh.
Anwar acknowledged the suffering of the Rohingya, but said Malaysia could not accommodate them permanently and "they need to be sent home".
He said Myanmar had now accepted the return of 5,000 refugees, with Kuala Lumpur bearing the repatriation cost, and the expectation was that more would be returned later in stages.
"To me, that's better diplomacy than just shouting angrily at Myanmar. Who's going to take them? Where do we send them? They don't even have Myanmar citizenship," Anwar said.
"Previously we didn't negotiate because we didn't recognise them," he said of Min Aung Hlaing's government. "We're not simply going to recognise and negotiate for no reason."
(Reporting by Ashley Tang; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Alex Richardson)
