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MALAYSIA BEGINS RETURNING MYANMAR NATIONALS AMID RIGHTS WARNINGS

WED 30 SEP 2026 ASIA

Malaysia began returning around 1,500 Myanmar nationals on Tuesday, the country's interior ministry confirmed, in what it described as the first stage of a plan to send back a total of 5,000 people from detention centres. The Malaysian government said the repatriation was voluntary and part of an effort to resolve what it called a "legacy issue" of foreign asylum seekers, adding that 95% of those affected came from Myanmar. AFP reporters saw three Myanmar navy ships depart from Malaysia's Lumut naval base, with those being returned processed there before travelling by bus, under police escort, to the Majlis Perbandaran Manjung stadium. The United Nations and rights groups raised concerns about the scheme, warning it could put people at risk by returning them to a country where civil war has continued since 2021.

Neither Malaysia nor Myanmar has officially confirmed how many of those in the first group are Rohingya, a Muslim minority that the UN says makes up around two-thirds of the roughly 190,000 Myanmar refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia. Many Rohingya fled to Malaysia during a military crackdown in Myanmar in 2017, which rights groups have said amounted to genocide. Malaysia's interior ministry said the presence of asylum seekers had created a financial burden, social difficulties and security concerns for the country. The UN's human rights chief, Volker Turk, said the situation in Myanmar remained severe and that no one should be forcibly returned there.

Turk called on Malaysia to stop the repatriations immediately, saying people risked facing renewed violence if sent back. Rights groups echoed those concerns, saying Myanmar remains unsafe for returnees given the continuing conflict. The Malaysian government has not indicated it plans to halt the scheme, which it says will eventually cover 5,000 people. The UN and advocacy organisations are continuing to press Kuala Lumpur over the programme's safety and its handling of Rohingya asylum seekers.

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