Malaysia's welcome to Min Aung Hlaing undermines its stance on justice

As the United States attacks the International Criminal Court, Kuala Lumpur is welcoming a leader the court's prosecutors want arrested.

On October 8, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim received Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing in Putrajaya with a guard of honor and an official lunch, the first visit by the military chief since the 2021 coup. Nine days earlier, Malaysia repatriated 1,476 Myanmar nationals in the first phase of a plan to repatriate 5,000 people by sea.

Kuala Lumpur calls this practical diplomacy. In effect, it lends the Trump administration's retreat from international accountability the credibility of a middle power and undermines the rules and institutions on which smaller governments rely most.

Since May, a wave of online hate speech and misinformation has targeted the Rohingya, Malaysia's largest refugee community. By late July, at least nine Rohingya community schools had been closed or ordered to close, and more than 100 Rohingya told UNHCR they had been evicted by Penang villagers.

Hostility ignores facts: Malaysia's police chief says Rohingya account for 0.02% of crimes. However, research by INITIATE.MY and the Center for the Study of Organized Hate shows that AI-generated content reinforces anti-Rohingya disinformation across Malaysia, Indonesia, India and Bangladesh, portraying refugees as a threat and legitimizing vigilante violence.

Electoral policies play an important role. After heavy defeats in three state elections and with national elections due in February 2028, Anwar's coalition may see a tough stance on Rohingya returns as a show of control, although disillusioned far-right voters make any electoral gains uncertain.

Malaysia is not acting alone. Mongolia hosted Vladimir Putin in 2024, despite the arrest warrant of the International Criminal Court, and Hungary welcomed Benjamin Netanyahu in 2025, despite another warrant. Kuala Lumpur denies this recognition, but Anwar says Malaysia will push for Myanmar's full reintegration into ASEAN, and Min Aung Hlaing wants a seat at the bloc's November meeting in Manila. Each welcome makes the next easier, telling leaders accused of crimes, from Netanyahu to Min Aung Heling, that diplomatic rehabilitation is possible without accountability.

ASEAN has already tried this. In April 2021, Min Aung Hlaing agreed to a five-point consensus, then reneged on it: violence continued, ASEAN's special envoy never met Aung San Suu Kyi, and inclusive dialogue never began. One of the real levers of this bloc was the exclusion of military leaders from its summits. "Giving him a welcome without asking anything in return would reward this defiance and tell Naypyidaw that time and a phased election can amount to something," said Arkar Hein, a Myanmar expert.

Compromise is otherwise required. Any handshake abroad also makes the regime less willing to offer real concessions to its opponents, convincing them that it alone will determine Myanmar's future battlefield.

Malaysia has spent decades building its reputation as a regional peacemaker, a hard-won reputation it is now putting in jeopardy. Since 2001 it has facilitated the Bangsamoro peace process, helping to negotiate a landmark peace agreement in the southern Philippines, and since 2013 it has facilitated talks in southern Thailand. In November 2024, Anwar welcomed the International Criminal Court's arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister, saying they "must be arrested even if they travel to other countries." That same month, the International Criminal Court prosecutor sought an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing for crimes against humanity targeting the Rohingya, and an Argentine court has since issued its verdict.

Gambia's genocide case against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice centers on the 2016-2017 operations led by Min Aung Hlaing, which killed thousands of Rohingya, raped and burned hundreds of villages, and drove more than 700,000 people to Bangladesh. UN investigators asked him to face charges of genocide. Malaysia is not a party to the Rome Statute and has no legal duty to arrest him. But its credibility as a pacifist and Palestinian is based on applying one standard to all.

Returns are based on guarantees that no independent entity can verify. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says it was not involved in the returns and had no access to verify their voluntariness and lack of safe conditions. According to reports, the returnees included 27 children. Although Malaysia is not a party to the Refugee Convention, it is bound by the customary principle of non-refoulement, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar has warned of substantial risks.

Naypyidaw says no Rohingya are involved because they are not recognized as citizens, but other returnees are also at risk of arbitrary detention, prosecution and forced labor. The military does not even control Rakhine state, where the Arakan military controls more than 90 percent of the territory. On September 28, a day before the return began, a military airstrike reportedly killed at least 50 civilians there, following more than a dozen other mass killings by the military earlier this year.

Nor can the military-backed government provide the peace that a safe return requires. No votes were cast in its elections in 67 out of 330 townships, and when Min Aung Hlaing proposed peace talks in April, the National Unity Government (NUG) and major ethnic armed groups rejected it. Without a ceasefire and an inclusive political process, assurances of safe return are meaningless.

Nevertheless, Malaysia's frustration is legitimate. The country has hosted refugees for decades with little international support, and resettlement has slowed since the Trump administration suspended US refugee admissions in January 2025. But failed load sharing cannot justify return without protection.

The International Criminal Court exists so that victims of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity can find justice when their own government fails them. This mission is now facing unprecedented pressure. On October 9, hours after former International Criminal Court judge Navi Pillai won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Trump administration itself boycotted the court. Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Chad and Venezuela announced their withdrawal.

However, moderate powers can be pushed back. Seventy-nine ICC members, including Canada, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa, backed the court after the first US sanctions in February 2025, and in May, Hungary's new government reversed its predecessor's withdrawal. In Southeast Asia, the Philippines surrendered former President Rodrigo Duterte to The Hague, where on October 8 judges found him fit to stand trial for crimes against humanity, which is set to begin on November 30.

Middle powers such as Malaysia and blocs such as ASEAN and the European Union cannot stop US sanctions, but they do not need to follow the Trump administration's lead. As Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said at the World Economic Forum in January, the middle powers "have to act together, because if we're not at the table, we're on the menu."

Malaysia and its neighbors must lead by saying no: no to efforts to undermine the court, no to treating Min Aung Hlaing's presidency as a clean slate, and no to the return of the Rohingya to active conflict. Malaysia should support efforts to hold him accountable if the ICC judges issue a ruling and reconsider joining the Rome Statute, a move it abandoned in 2019.

Saying no does not mean breaking up. Kuala Lumpur should tie Myanmar's reintegration into ASEAN to real progress on the five-point consensus, which begins with an end to violence and inclusive dialogue involving the GNA and ethnic armed organizations. At home, they must stop returns until an independent body confirms they are safe, stop voluntary resettlement, and hold accountable those who evict, threaten or attack refugees.

Malaysia should not shoulder this burden alone. ASEAN partners, OIC members and donors should fund the registration, training and integration of refugees, and resettlement countries should return their commitments. Governments must also hold technology platforms accountable for fueling anti-refugee disinformation and need to act quickly against incitement.

For years, Malaysia has given shelter to Rohingya and others fleeing Myanmar, when few countries do. This record gives it the authority and responsibility to defend the international justice system it has long defended.

The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.