Malaysia starts sending Myanmar migrants home

LUMUT, Perak – Malaysia began sending back around 1,500 Myanmar nationals on Sept 29, launching a scheme rights groups say may endanger migrants by returning them to the war-torn country.

The batch is the first of 5,000 Myanmar citizens Kuala Lumpur says agreed to “voluntary” repatriation from detention centres amidst a huge uptick in anti-migrant sentiment in Malaysia.

But both the United Nations and advocacy organisations say dire conditions in detention centres may have forced their decisions, and they could face dangerous homecomings in Myanmar where war has raged since 2021.

Neither Malaysia nor Myanmar have officially clarified the number of Rohingya in the first group, and there is concern they may be returned to a country where they face persecution rights groups say amounts to genocide.

‘Dignified return’

Dozens of buses arrived under police escort early on Sept 29 at the Majlis Perbandaran Manjung stadium near the Lumut naval base in north-western Malaysia, AFP correspondents saw, where the migrants were to be processed.

Three ships belonging to the Myanmar navy departed from the naval base around 5pm.

They included the auxiliary support and hospital ship Than Lwin and the amphibious landing platform ship Moattama, which had been used in a previous repatriation exercise.

A Myanmar security source, requesting anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to media, said the boats are due to dock at Thanlyin Navy Base just south of Yangon around the end of this week.

Malaysia’s Home Affairs Ministry confirmed that the repatriations were under way.

“Today, 1,476 individuals have commenced phase one of the repatriation programme, based on a list submitted by the Myanmar government via an official diplomatic note,” it said in a statement.

It added that the repatriation was part of the government’s plan to resolve the “legacy issue” of foreign asylum-seekers in Malaysia – of which it said 95% were from Myanmar.

“This longstanding issue has imposed a significant financial burden on the nation, triggered serious social crises, and created tangible security threats for the Malaysian people,” the statement said.

But in Geneva, UN refugee agency spokesman Matthew Saltmarsh told reporters “we are concerned by the reported imminent return of some 1,500 individuals from Myanmar to that country”.

“Under international law no one should be sent to a country where they may face persecution, torture, serious harm, or other threats to life, liberty, and security,” he said.

Rohingya, a persecuted Muslim minority, make up two-thirds of the 190,000 Myanmar refugees and asylum seekers in the country, according to the United Nations.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced in July that Myanmar had agreed to take back 5,000 members of the Rohingya.

The repatriation plan was announced after authorities detained more than 100 Rohingya who had gathered outside the UN refugee agency’s office in Kuala Lumpur.

They were seeking help after being threatened with eviction from an informal settlement in northern Penang state.

They were later released after officials confirmed they held valid UN documentation.

Myanmar earlier in September pledged “safe and dignified” returns for its citizens displaced abroad, after criticism from the UN and rights groups.

‘Reputation and integrity

Last week more than 160 civil society groups in a joint statement called upon the Malaysian government to “immediately halt the deportations”, pending talks with civil organisations about the situation on the ground in Myanmar.

Anwar said he would invite Myanmar’s coup leader-turned-civilian president Min Aung Hlaing for an official visit to help expedite the repatriation process.

But the civil groups urged that “Malaysia’s engagement with the junta must not come at the expense of its own reputation and integrity”.

There were 10,388 Myanmar nationals held at immigration detention depots by mid-August, the ministry said, with not all considered refugees.

Malaysia, which shelters one of South-east Asia’s biggest refugee populations, is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and does not formally recognise refugee status.

AFP fact-checkers have found that Rohingya refugees in Malaysia have been targeted by online disinformation campaigns that rights advocates say are fuelling xenophobia and intimidation.

Many of the Rohingya, a mostly Muslim group, escaped Myanmar during a brutal military crackdown in 2017.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled Myanmar after the offensive, which is the basis of a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.

More than 1.2 million live just over the border in Bangladesh, in the world’s largest refugee settlement, but talk of repatriations from there has yielded little progress. AFP