Malaysia has deported around 1,500 Myanmar nationals, including children, despite warnings from the United Nations and human rights groups that conditions in Myanmar remain unsafe for refugees to return.
The deportation on Tuesday marked the first phase of a wider repatriation programme agreed between Malaysia and Myanmar that could eventually see as many as 5,000 people sent back.
Malaysia has maintained that the returns are voluntary. But the UN refugee agency and rights organisations have questioned whether refugees can safely return to a country still engulfed in civil war following the 2021 military coup.
Nearly 1,500 Myanmar Nationals Sent Back
Dozens of buses accompanied by security vehicles arrived at a stadium near the Lumut naval base in Malaysia’s Perak state on Tuesday morning before travelling to a nearby port, where two Myanmar naval vessels and a hospital ship were waiting, according to Reuters witnesses.
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Those deported included 1,370 men, 79 women, 20 boys and seven girls, ranging in age from eight to 60, Malaysia’s state news agency Bernama reported.
Malaysia’s Home Ministry said the Myanmar government had identified those selected for repatriation.
It said further phases would take place after identification, documentation and verification procedures were completed.
Myanmar’s government spokesperson and its embassy in Kuala Lumpur did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry said earlier this month that it was working with other countries to facilitate the voluntary return of verified displaced people in a safe and dignified manner, according to state media.
UN Says Myanmar Is Not Safe for Returns
The deportations have drawn particular concern because of the security situation inside Myanmar.
The country has remained engulfed in conflict since the 2021 military coup, with the military fighting armed groups across multiple fronts.
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has said current conditions do not support the safe and sustainable return of refugees from Myanmar. It has also said it was not involved in identifying the people being deported.
That has raised questions over whether individuals being returned were able to make genuinely informed and voluntary decisions about going back.
The issue is particularly sensitive because many Myanmar nationals in Malaysia fled persecution, armed conflict and other forms of insecurity.
Malaysia Says Refugees Are Becoming a National Burden
Malaysia has defended the repatriation programme as part of a broader effort to reduce the number of asylum seekers in the country.
The government has faced increasing domestic pressure over refugees and migrants in recent years, amid rising hostility toward the Rohingya community in particular.
UNHCR estimates that Malaysia hosted around 193,000 registered refugees from Myanmar at the end of February, with Rohingya accounting for roughly two thirds of them.
A surge in online hate speech and misinformation targeting the Rohingya community this year has also contributed to harassment and widespread school closures.
Malaysia’s Home Ministry did not disclose the ethnic backgrounds or refugee status of those deported on Tuesday, and did not say whether Rohingya were among them.
The ministry said Myanmar nationals make up more than 95% of the refugees in Malaysia and described the long running refugee issue as a financial and security burden.
It said negotiations with Myanmar allowed the government to proceed in an orderly and humane manner while protecting Malaysia’s national security and sovereignty.
Rohingya Return Plan Adds to the Controversy
Malaysia’s wider relationship with Myanmar has also become part of the repatriation debate.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said this month that he would invite Myanmar’s military chief turned president, Min Aung Hlaing, for an official visit in exchange for accepting Rohingya refugees.
Anwar said in July that Myanmar had agreed to take back as many as 5,000 Rohingya.
The proposal is particularly contentious because Myanmar does not recognise the Rohingya as an ethnic group.
Many Rohingya fled Myanmar following a 2017 military crackdown, and the treatment of the community remains the subject of a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
Rights Groups Fear Forced Conscription
Human rights organisations and refugee representatives have warned that those returned to Myanmar could face serious risks.
James Bawi Thang Bik, who represents refugees from Myanmar’s Chin community in Malaysia, said community leaders were aware of several asylum seekers among those being deported, including a refugee recognised by UNHCR.
He said some returnees could face forced conscription by Myanmar’s military.
“We fear that they may be forced to fight on the frontlines of the conflict,” he said, warning that returning some refugees could amount to sending them back to a potentially deadly environment.
The concern reflects the broader uncertainty over what awaits people sent back to Myanmar while fighting continues across the country.
Rights Groups Challenge Malaysia’s Repatriation Policy
Amnesty International Malaysia and Asylum Access Malaysia said the deportations violated the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits countries from returning people to places where they face a risk of persecution.
Malaysia is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention, but the rights groups argued that the protection principle still applies.
They also questioned how those selected for deportation were identified and whether safeguards were in place to assess their safety after returning to Myanmar.
The groups separately raised concerns about Malaysia’s refugee registration document initiative, launched in January to manage asylum seekers and refugees.
“A meaningful refugee protection framework must ensure that refugees are able to access asylum while in Malaysia,” the groups said, arguing that the system should not become a mechanism for accelerating deportations.
Malaysia’s Tougher Refugee Policy Faces a Major Test
The first deportations place Malaysia at the center of a difficult regional dilemma.
Kuala Lumpur says it needs to manage a growing refugee population and protect national resources and security. The UN and rights groups, however, argue that the conditions inside Myanmar make large scale returns unsafe.
The disagreement is likely to intensify if Malaysia proceeds with further phases of the programme and expands the number of people being sent back.
For the refugees involved, the central question is whether a return described by Malaysia as voluntary can truly be considered safe while Myanmar remains at war.
The fate of the next groups scheduled for repatriation could therefore become an important test of how Malaysia balances domestic pressure over migration with international concerns over refugee protection.
With information from Reuters.
