Malaysia to return 1,500 Rohingya refugees next month, despite safety fears

First phase of Malaysia’s Repatriation plan will involve Myanmar nationals who are ‘willing to return voluntarily’.Malaysia has finalised the first phase of a voluntary Repatriation programme that will see at least 1,500 eligible Myanmar refugees return home on September 29, the government said.Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced in July that Myanmar’s military-backed government had agreed to take back 5,000 members of the persecuted Rohingya minority amid rising tensions with local communities in Malaysia.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Malaysia detains more than 100 Rohingya seeking help from the UNlist 2 of 3Malaysian foreign minister calls for review of UNHCR’s presencelist 3 of 3Malaysia vows not to return Myanmar refugees if lives at riskend of list“The Repatriation process will use two Myanmar naval warships and a hospital ship,” according to a Malaysia-home-ministry" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="195020" data-entity-type="organization">Malaysia Home Ministry statement.It said more than 4,000 individuals, primarily of ethnic Rohingya, will be channelled into the Refugee Registration Document (DPP) programme, while 5,000 others will undergo the voluntary Repatriation process, as agreed with Myanmar.There were 10,388 Myanmar nationals held at Immigration detention depots by mid-August, the ministry said, with not all considered refugees.Malaysia’s immigration department is working with the police to verify the identity, citizenship, immigration status, asylum claims and security background of those detainees by the end of the year.Rights groups raise safety concernsEarlier this month, the government said it would not proceed with the Repatriation if the refugees’ lives would be at risk upon return.“Malaysia, as a responsible country, will not return the 5,000 Myanmar refugees if they would either be persecuted or their lives would be threatened,” Fahmi Fadzil, the Malaysian communications minister, said.Human Rights Watch has said conditions for a safe, dignified and voluntary return to Myanmar do not currently exist, and warned that the Myanmar military continued to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity.