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Malaysia has begun a repatriation programme for Myanmar nationals, with 1,476 people returning on Tuesday in the first phase of a plan covering up to 5,000 people. The returns come as conflict continues inside Myanmar, including a deadly airstrike in Rakhine State just a day earlier.
On Tuesday, three ships left Malaysia carrying 1,476 Myanmar nationals, including children, back to a country still in the middle of a civil war.
The return was the first phase of a broader plan between Malaysia and Myanmar that could eventually see as many as 5,000 people sent back. Malaysia says the returns are voluntary, but the move has raised concerns from the United Nations and dozens of human rights groups.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it had no role in the operation and warned that continuing conflict and violence in Myanmar meant conditions for safe and dignified returns did not exist. “Any refugee return must be voluntary, based on an informed decision, and take place in conditions of safety and dignity,” it told the Reuters news agency.
Anadolu Ajansı, state-run news agency of Turkey reported that UNHCR spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh told journalists in Geneva that UNHCR remains committed to engaging with the Malaysian government through technical support, policy dialogue and capacity building to develop accessible and effective protection measures.
"We are concerned by the reported imminent return of some 1,500 individuals ..., with ongoing armed conflict and widespread violence and human rights violations across Myanmar," he added.
UNHCR maintains that current conditions in Myanmar do not permit "safe, dignified, and sustainable returns," Saltmarsh stressed.
"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.
Dozens of buses accompanied by security vehicles arrived at a stadium near the Lumut naval base in Malaysia's Perak state on Tuesday morning, Reuters witnesses said.
The group included 1,370 men, 79 women, 20 boys and seven girls. They left Malaysia's Lumut naval base aboard two Myanmar navy vessels and a hospital ship.
As per a BBC report, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has said he is responding to growing public hostility towards the large population of Muslim Rohingyas in Malaysia and has no choice but to negotiate with the Myanmar government over their return.
Malaysia's Home Affairs Ministry confirmed in a statement that the first phase of the programme had begun, with 1,476 people selected from a list provided by the Myanmar government through diplomatic channels.
The ministry said the programme was part of a wider effort to deal with the long-running issue of foreign asylum seekers in Malaysia, around 95 percent of whom it said were from Myanmar. It said hosting asylum seekers over a long period had placed financial pressure on the country and raised social and security concerns.
But the returns come at a time when fighting is still continuing across Myanmar.
A deadly airstrike in Rakhine
Just a day before the ships left Malaysia, a Myanmar military airstrike hit an area near a busy market in Kyauktaw township in Rakhine State.
The Arakan Army (AA), which controls the area, and a local rescue official said at least 49 people were killed and 58 injured, including 22 who were critically wounded.
The AA said a fighter jet dropped two bombs near the market around noon on Monday, hitting an area crowded with vendors, shoppers and people passing through. The Myanmar military did not immediately comment on the attack.
Rakhine has become one of the main fronts in Myanmar's civil war.
The Arakan Army, an ethnic armed group fighting for greater autonomy for Rakhine, began a major offensive against Myanmar's military in November 2023. Since then, it has taken control of 14 of Rakhine State's 17 townships.
That means Myanmar's military has lost control of much of the state on the ground. But it still has something the Arakan Army does not have on the same scale: air power.
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-Asia Media Centre
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