Zakir Hossain / Dhaka
Bangladesh and Malaysia have agreed to participate in a regional peace mission to Myanmar, aiming to end the ongoing violence and address the worsening Rohingya refugee crisis.
“Securing peace in Myanmar is of course a great priority, along with immediate humanitarian assistance for the suffering first—the refugees, and also the victims of earthquakes,” Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Tuesday, following bilateral talks with Bangladesh’s interim Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus in Putrajaya.
Anwar expressed serious concern over Bangladesh’s burden of sheltering around 1.2 million Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar’s Rakhine state since 2017. He noted that the crisis has intensified, with another two lakh refugees arriving since 2023 due to escalating conflict involving the Arakan Army, which now controls 90% of Rakhine. To push for peace, Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan will coordinate a regional team comprising Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand to visit Myanmar in the coming weeks.
Anwar lauded Bangladesh’s diplomatic efforts across platforms in New York, Kolkata, and Malaysia, and described Muhammad Yunus as “a great friend of Malaysia.” He also praised Yunus’s contribution to peace, education, and microcredit, particularly at the Albukhary International University in Kedah.
“During the transition years, he made remarkable progress in ensuring peace and security in the country, and is now continuing the collaboration to enhance relations in investment, trade, culture, and education,” Anwar said.
In support of Bangladeshi workers, Malaysia has approved a Multiple Entry Visa facility. “Your workers have been instrumental… You have made some proposals and were given priority, particularly to assist the stranded workers,” Anwar added.
To strengthen bilateral ties, the two nations signed five Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) and exchanged three diplomatic notes covering defence, energy, education, and trade. The MoUs include agreements on defence cooperation; Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) supply and infrastructure; institutional collaboration between the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia and the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS); a tech partnership between MIMOS Services Sdn Bhd and the Bangladesh-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BMCCI); and a business agreement between the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (NCCIM) and the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI).
The three notes exchanged focused on cooperation in higher education, training for diplomats, and development of the halal ecosystem.
This initiative comes ahead of a United Nations (UN) high-level conference on the Rohingya crisis, scheduled for September 30 in New York. A preparatory conference will be held in Cox’s Bazar on August 25, marking eight years since the mass Rohingya exodus into Bangladesh.