PUTRAJAYA, Oct 8 — Myanmar’s leader Min Aung Hlaing said Thursday that migrants from his war-torn country held in Malaysian detention centres will be returned home “as soon as possible”.

Min Aung Hlaing has been a pariah in many capitals abroad since his putsch unleashed a civil war, but Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim invited him for talks about returning Myanmar migrants.

“We will take those verified nationals back as soon as possible,” Min Aung Hlaing said at a joint news conference with Anwar in the administrative capital of Putrajaya.

Myanmar’s leader landed on Wednesday for his first visit to Malaysia since taking power in a 2021 coup, as Kuala Lumpur seeks his cooperation to return thousands of migrants.