Nearly 1,500 migrants arrive in Myanmar from Malaysia despite UN warnings

Malaysia continues mass refugee deportations despite warnings from the UN about unsafe conditions in an active war zone.Nearly 1,500 Myanmar refugees and migrants deported from Malaysia have arrived in their war-ravaged country under an opaque repatriation scheme heavily criticised by human rights groups and the United Nations refugee agency.The 1,479 returnees, transported from Malaysia on board two navy warships and a hospital ship on Tuesday, arrived in southern Yangon early Sunday, Nay Lin Tun, a regional government minister, said.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Malaysia gave refuge to Rohingya; now it wants them to golist 2 of 3Malaysia sends Rohingya back to Myanmar despite safety warningslist 3 of 3‘They are crying’: Refugees in Malaysia in fear amid Myanmar deportationend of listThey are among 5,000 Myanmar nationals who will be repatriated in stages from Malaysia, where more than 10,300 others are being held in Immigration detention centres, according to the country’s Home Ministry.Malaysia insists all returnees agreed to voluntary repatriation, but rights monitors have raised concerns that Myanmar refugees had little choice and warned that conditions for return remain unsafe.The UN refugee agency said this past week that its staff were not allowed to meet the Myanmar nationals to confirm whether their decisions to return “were genuinely free and informed”.Rohingya make up the majority of Myanmar refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia, but it remains unclear how many members of the persecuted Rohingya are among the returned group.The deportation was carried out during escalating raids on refugee communities in Malaysia by immigration officials, which led to the detention of more than 50,000 refugees in 2026.Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced the repatriations in July against a backdrop of rising Xenophobia towards refugees, particularly the Rohingya.