Nearly 1,500 Myanmar refugees and migrants deported from Malaysia have arrived in their war-ravaged country under an opaque repatriation scheme.
Human rights groups and the UN refugee agency has heavily criticised this action.
The 1,479 returnees, transported aboard two navy warships and a hospital ship on Tuesday, arrived in southern Yangon early Sunday, according to Nay Lin Tun, a regional government minister, reports Al Jazeera.
Buses carrying the nationals were seen heading towards the naval base in Lumut, near Kuala Lumpur, on 29 September 2026.
They are among 5,000 Myanmar nationals to be repatriated in stages from Malaysia, where over 10,300 others remain in immigration detention centres.
Whilst Malaysia insists all agreed to voluntary return, rights monitors warned conditions remain unsafe.
The UNHCR stated its staff were denied access to confirm whether returns were free and informed.
It remains unclear how many persecuted Rohingya are among the group, though they form the majority of Malaysia’s 215,600 registered refugees, including over 126,000 Muslim Rohingya.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced the repatriations in July amid rising anti-refugee sentiment, with plans to return a second group of over 3,500 people.
Yap Lay Sheng, a senior human rights specialist with Fortify Rights, told AFP that “there’s no telling how the regime would treat returnees”.
The UNHCR warned returnees face persecution and forced conscription in an active civil war that has killed over 100,000 people since the 2021 military coup, according to ACLED.
Meanwhile, Myanmar faces genocide allegations at the International Court of Justice, whilst coup leader Min Aung Hlaing, installed as civilian president in April, is expected to visit Malaysia soon to discuss the scheme.
