Sent back on warships: 1,479 Myanmar nationals land in Yangon despite UN warnings

YANGON, Oct 5 — Nearly 1,500 Myanmar nationals deported from Malaysia arrived in the country's largest city on Sunday, transported on two Myanmar navy warships and a hospital ship, despite warnings from the UN refugee agency and rights groups that conditions for return remain unsafe. The 1,479 returnees, including 86 women, arrived in southern Yangon early Sunday, a regional government minister said. They had been convicted of staying illegally and other immigration violations in Malaysia, according to Myanmar state media, and were shipped out on Tuesday. The deportation is the first phase of a broader plan agreed between Malaysia and Myanmar that could see as many as 5,000 people returned. Malaysia's Home Ministry says 10,388 more Myanmar nationals are being held in immigration detention centres. Malaysia insists the returns are strictly voluntary. But the UNHCR says its staff were not allowed to meet the returnees to confirm whether their decisions were "genuinely free and informed". The people were taken from immigration detention, which raises questions about how free any choice could be, the agency's protection chief Edem Wosornu said. "No one should be returned to a country where they may face persecution, torture or other serious threats to their life or freedom," the agency said, invoking the principle of non-refoulement. UN special rapporteur on Myanmar Kelley Currie said the risk of refoulement was "substantial": "Under international law, the Government of Malaysia is obligated to uphold the principle of non-refoulement and prevent the return of individuals to situations where they face a real risk of persecution, torture, or other serious human rights violations." Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power from Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government in February 2021, plunging large parts of the country into civil war. Returnees could face persecution and forced military conscription, rights groups warn. It is unclear whether any of the group are Rohingya Muslims, who face systemic persecution and are denied citizenship. Malaysia is not a party to the UN Refugee Convention and treats refugees as undocumented migrants, though it hosts about 215,600 UNHCR-registered refugees and asylum seekers. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced the repatriations in July amid rising xenophobia towards refugees, particularly the Rohingya, many of whom fled a 2017 military crackdown that is the subject of a genocide case at the International Court of Justice. Kuala Lumpur says a second group of more than 3,500 will follow, citing financial, social and security burdens. The UNHCR says conditions in Myanmar "do not support the safe and sustainable return of refugees" and that it was not involved in identifying those returned.