Nearly 1,500 Burmese returned from Malaysia arrive in Burma despite concerns from human rights defenders

Nearly 1,500 Burmese returned from Malaysia arrived in Burma on Sunday, a Navy official announced, the first phase of a program that could endanger these people in a war-torn country, according to human rights associations. Three boats carrying the displaced docked at the Burmese naval base of Thanlyin shortly before 7:30 a.m. (01:00 GMT), the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

This group of 1,476 people is part of a group of 5,000 Burmese who, according to Kuala Lumpur, accepted “voluntary” repatriation from detention centers, at a time when Malaysia is seeing increasing hostility towards exiles. Hundreds of families gathered at dawn to pick up their loved ones near the naval base, with cars, buses and taxis already ready to take them away, AFP journalists noted.

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More than 100,000 dead

Human rights associations point out that the poor conditions of detention of the Burmese concerned may have pushed them to accept the return program. They also insist on the dangerousness of a return to Burma, ravaged by civil war since the military coup of 2021. The conflict has at this stage caused more than 100,000 deaths, according to the NGO Acled.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it was “concerned” about this return, adding that “under international law, no one should be returned to a country where they would risk persecution, torture, serious harm or other threats to their life, liberty and security.”

“We don't know what his life will be like back in Burma,” the sister of a man facing deportation asked from Malaysia. “Our main concern is that his arrival will not be secure,” she told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Malaysian authorities did not say how many Rohingya were among those returned. But this Muslim minority constitutes the majority of Burmese refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia, according to the UN. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled Burma after a violent military operation launched in 2017, which is the subject of genocide proceedings before the International Court of Justice.