Malaysia Starts Sending Myanmar Migrants Home
The first returns are part of a broader plan that could send back up to 5,000 people as rights groups warn of safety risks.
- On Tuesday, September 29, Malaysia sent back its first batch of 1,476 Myanmar nationals under a phased repatriation program, despite intense pressure from the United Nations and rights organizations to halt the returns.
- Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim confirmed in September that Myanmar agreed to accept its nationals following bilateral negotiations. The plan followed authorities detaining more than 100 Rohingya refugees outside the United Nations Refugee Agency office in Kuala Lumpur.
- Myanmar pledged "safe and dignified" returns earlier this month, but the UNHCR maintains that conditions remain far too volatile for safe repatriation. Human rights advocates warned that returning refugees to active conflict zones risks violating the principle of non-refoulement.
- James Bawi, a Chin community leader, warned that deportation could mean arrest, detention, forced conscription or facing serious danger. Refugees remaining in Malaysia navigate daily life without legal status, balancing survival needs against constant risk of detention.
- The deportations represent the first wave of a broader agreement that could see up to 5,000 Myanmar nationals returned. As Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, hundreds of thousands of refugees continue living in legal limbo.
12 Articles
12 Articles
Malaysian authorities have begun sending back some 1,500 Myanmar nationals in the first phase of a program criticized by human rights groups. This is the first group of a total of 5,000 Myanmar citizens who, according to Kuala Lumpur, have accepted their "voluntary" repatriation from detention centers in Malaysia. Dozens of buses arrived, escorted by police, at a stadium near the Lumut naval base (northwest), AFP journalists saw. Journalists wer…
Channel News Asia
Malaysia starts sending Myanmar migrants home
Dozens of buses arrived under police escort at the Majlis Perbandaran Manjung stadium near the Lumut naval base in northwestern Malaysia. The migrants were expected to be processed before being taken to Myanmar by ship.
Rohingya refugees detained in administrative detention centres in Malaysia are due to board ships on Tuesday, 29 September, as a result of an agreement between the Malaysian government and the Burmese junta, but civil society organizations are calling on Kuala Lumpur to step back.
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources lean Right
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
