Last week, Malaysia welcomed Myanmar's military leader Min Aung Hlaing for an official visit on the 7th and 8th of October — a move that has drawn sharp criticism from Myanmar's opposition and human rights observers. The Malaysian government framed the visit as a step toward facilitating the repatriation of thousands of Myanmar nationals living in Malaysia, but critics have warned that it risks lending international legitimacy to a junta accused of war crimes, and that refugees returned to Myanmar face conscription, violence, or worse in a country still in the grip of civil war. What does this engagement mean for the people of Myanmar, and what future are the resistance forces fighting to build? We put these questions to Her Excellency Daw Zin Mar Aung, Minister of Foreign Affairs for the National Unity Government of Myanmar.

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