Myanmar Returns 1,476 From Malaysia Despite UN Warnings Over Safety Risks

Nearly 1,500 Myanmar nationals returned from Malaysia arrived in the war-torn country on Sunday, despite warnings from the United Nations and rights groups that returnees could face persecution, forced conscription and other serious risks.

Three Myanmar Navy vessels carrying 1,476 people docked at a naval base in Thanlyin, near Yangon, shortly before 7:30 am, according to AFP. Families gathered at the port to receive relatives, with buses, taxis and cars waiting to take the returnees to their hometowns.

The group, which includes 1,370 men, 79 women, 20 boys and seven girls, was the first batch under a Malaysia-Myanmar arrangement to repatriate around 5,000 Myanmar nationals in stages. The returnees had been held in Malaysian immigration detention centres after convictions for illegal stay and other immigration violations.

Malaysia has described the programme as voluntary. However, the UN refugee agency has questioned whether the decisions were genuinely voluntary, noting that the people being returned had been held in immigration detention and that UNHCR was not given access to assess their circumstances or whether they had freely chosen to return.

UNHCR said those sent back could face serious risks amid Myanmar's continuing civil war and deteriorating humanitarian and human rights conditions. It stressed that under the principle of non-refoulement, people should not be returned to places where they could face persecution, torture or other serious threats to their lives or freedom.

UN Special Rapporteur Kelley E. Currie has separately warned that the risk of refoulement is substantial. Rights groups have also raised concerns that returnees could be subjected to forced military conscription.

Relatives waiting in Thanlyin expressed mixed emotions. One man told AFP he was collecting three grandchildren who had spent about 18 months in Malaysian detention and said he feared they could be conscripted not only by Myanmar's military but also by ethnic armed groups.

It remains unclear whether any Rohingya, Myanmar's persecuted Muslim minority, were among those returned. Malaysia hosts more than 215,000 UNHCR-registered refugees and asylum seekers, including about 126,000 Rohingya.

The latest repatriation comes as Malaysia prepares for further returns, with 10,388 Myanmar nationals previously reported to be in immigration detention centres. The broader plan has drawn sustained international scrutiny over the safety and legal status of those being sent back.