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Malaysian PM says he will invite Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing for an official goodwill visit
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on September 16 that he will invite Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing for an official goodwill visit. Anwar said that the official visit would be invited to expedite the repatriation process for Bengali (Rohingya in the original text) refugees. Anwar announced in July that Myanmar had agreed to accept 5,000 Bengalis residing in Malaysia. Malaysia hosts over 215,000 refugees and asylum seekers registered with the UN Refugee Agency, including over 126,000 Bengalis from Myanmar, which is the largest refugee community. Although both countries have stated that nearly 1,500 Myanmar nationals will be repatriated voluntarily by the end of September as the first batch, it is not yet clear how many Bengalis will be included among these Myanmar nationals. Anwar said that this diplomatic effort is aimed at finding a solution to the Bengali refugee problem, which has caused growing concern among local residents. "That is why I told the Minister of Home Affairs and the government ministers two weeks ago that I would invite the Myanmar President to visit Malaysia on an official goodwill trip," Prime Minister Anwar said in an interview on September 16. "Why am I inviting him? The reason is that I want to tell him that we can be friends and we can trade," he continued. "We can accept Myanmar, but they also have to accept (the refugees)." He said that Myanmar could proceed with the repatriation process in stages if it could not accept all 200,000 refugees at once. Ref: AFP
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on September 16 that he will invite Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing for an official goodwill visit. Anwar said that the official visit would be invited to expedite the repatriation process for Bengali (Rohingya in the original text) refugees. Anwar announced in July that Myanmar had agreed to accept 5,000 Bengalis residing in Malaysia. Malaysia hosts over 215,000 refugees and asylum seekers registered with the UN Refugee Agency, including over 126,000 Bengalis from Myanmar, which is the largest refugee community. Although both countries have stated that nearly 1,500 Myanmar nationals will be repatriated voluntarily by the end of September as the first batch, it is not yet clear how many Bengalis will be included among these Myanmar nationals. Anwar said that this diplomatic effort is aimed at finding a solution to the Bengali refugee problem, which has caused growing concern among local residents. "That is why I told the Minister of Home Affairs and the government ministers two weeks ago that I would invite the Myanmar President to visit Malaysia on an official goodwill trip," Prime Minister Anwar said in an interview on September 16. "Why am I inviting him? The reason is that I want to tell him that we can be friends and we can trade," he continued. "We can accept Myanmar, but they also have to accept (the refugees)." He said that Myanmar could proceed with the repatriation process in stages if it could not accept all 200,000 refugees at once. Ref: AFP
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Eleven Media