‘Better to Kill Us’: Fear Over Malaysia’s Plan to Send Back Myanmar Migrants

Crisis

On February 1st, 2021, elected officials in Naypyidaw were deposed by the Tatmadaw, plunging Myanmar into a brutal military government. The following civil war continues to rage today between the Tatmadaw, the National Unity Government, and over 20 individual ethnic armed organizations and communities, each with their own territories and alliances. The conflict has so far killed over 100,000 people, and the UN estimates 18.6 million are in need of humanitarian aid. 

The fallout is a humanitarian crisis that has internally displaced 1.6 million civilians, with another 1.6 million refugees fleeing to countries in South and Southeast Asia such as Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand, and more. Tensions have recently spiked due to Malaysia’s “Year of Enforcement,” where Malaysia spent 2025 rounding up Burmese refugees into tightly packed penitentiary centres, detaining over 10,000 refugees, where over 300 have died while detained. In July of 2026, the government in Kuala Lumpur announced a plan to send about half of their detained refugees back home to Myanmar. Despite the conditions for these refugees in Malaysia, many are scared to return. One refugee, Mohammad, 35, said “It is better to kill us in Malaysia rather than send us back to Myanmar.” 

The priority of this committee will be to create solutions to the humanitarian crisis. Delegates can choose to focus on the refugees outside of Myanmar, the 18.6 million in Myanmar in need of aid, or working towards the end of the conflict. It’s important that delegates not only save lives today, but create solutions that save people tomorrow, and create a safer environment for the whole of South and Southeast Asia.