Malaysia has begun sending nearly ۱,۵۰۰ Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar, describing their return as voluntary despite warnings from the United Nations and rights groups that Myanmar remains unsafe for them.
Dozens of buses arrived under police escort at a stadium near the Lumut naval base in northwestern Malaysia on Tuesday, the AFP news agency reported. Journalists were barred from the grounds. The passengers were expected to be processed before being taken to the base and transported to Myanmar by ship.
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The Myanmar army has repeatedly cracked down on the country’s Rohingya minority, including a wave of violence in ۲۰۱۷ that many rights groups have described as genocide, and which set off a major refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh, Malaysia, India and other neighbouring nations. Myanmar does not officially recognise the Rohingya as an ethnic community with local roots, instead describing them as “Bengalis” — in effect, calling them Bangladeshi migrants.
As of February ۲۰۲۶, Malaysia had more than ۱۲۶,۱۴۴ Rohingya refugees. Bangladesh hosts the most Rohingya refugees — more than ۱.۲ million.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said in July that Myanmar had agreed to take back ۵,۰۰۰ Rohingya, leaving a question about who is being sent back. The nearly ۱,۵۰۰ picked for repatriation on Tuesday are part of the group. The Ministry of Home Affairs said two Myanmar naval warships and a hospital ship would be used.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it had no role in the operation and warned that continuing conflict and violence in Myanmar meant conditions for safe and dignified returns did not exist. “Any refugee return must be voluntary, based on an informed decision, and take place in conditions of safety and dignity,” it told the Reuters news agency.
Malaysia’s Home Ministry declined to comment on the warning, referring to its earlier statement that the returns were voluntary.
Rights advocates question whether people held in detention can freely choose to return to a country they fled.
“The genocide has never stopped. Sending Rohingya back to this is not repatriation,” Nay San Lwin, cochair of the Arakan Rohingya National Council (ARNC), a group representing the Rohingya, told Al Jazeera. “It is sending people back to a killing field. We call on Malaysia to halt all returns of Rohingya to Myanmar until it is safe.”
He argued that Malaysia’s decision to send refugees back to Myanmar came at a time when intense fighting was taking place between the army and rebel groups, including the Arakan Army.
“The Myanmar military has lost control of much of the Rohingya homeland, and its fighting with the Arakan Army is still ongoing, with Rohingya caught in the middle. Both the military and the Arakan Army are committing atrocities against the Rohingya,” he said.
Ro Mayyu Islam, founding Chair of the Center of Rohingya crisis studies based in Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh, also opposed the repatriation under the present conditions.
“Do not confuse repatriation with resolution. Moving Rohingya from Malaysian detention centres to Myanmar does not solve the Rohingya crisis. Address the conditions that forced us to flee, and then make the return genuinely safe, voluntary and sustainable,” he told Al Jazeera from Cox’s Bazaar.
“We are not asking the world to keep us refugees. We are demanding the right to return home as equal human beings with citizenship, security, dignity and fundamental rights.”
Meanwhile, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has urged Malaysia to halt the returns and disclose who was being sent back and what risks each person faced. “Refugees should not be returned to places they’ve fled and where their lives are at risk,” the organisation said.
More than ۱۶۰ civil society organisations also called for the repatriation to stop, citing violence and the risk that Rohingya could be pressed into armed groups. Their warning comes as Myanmar’s military fights the Arakan Army in Rakhine state, the region from which many Rohingya fled.
Myanmar’s government has promised “safe and dignified” returns for the Rohingya. Meanwhile, Malaysian Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil has said the country would not return people if they faced persecution or threats to their lives.
For Rohingya who have already gone back, the question is what awaits them after arrival. Ismail, ۲۵, told AFP he left his work at a fish market in Malaysia amid arrests and rising hostility towards Rohingya. Now jobless in Yangon, he relies on relatives and still lacks full citizenship. “We are the most discriminated people,” he said. In Rakhine, a Rohingya activist identified as Mohammad feared returnees could be sent to displacement camps in a region still affected by fighting and disease.
The returns follow growing pressure on Rohingya in Malaysia. In July, authorities detained more than ۱۰۰ people who gathered outside UNHCR’s office in Kuala Lumpur after facing eviction from an informal settlement in Penang. They were later released when officials confirmed they held UN documents, AFP reported. Malaysia is not a party to the ۱۹۵۱ Refugee Convention and does not formally recognise refugee status.
Anwar has said he intends to invite Myanmar’s Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who led the military during the ۲۰۱۷ crackdown, to Malaysia to help accelerate the returns.
