Nearly 1,500 Myanmar refugees and migrants deported by Malaysia have arrived back in their war-torn homeland under an opaque repatriation programme that has drawn sharp criticism from human rights groups and the UN refugee agency.
Nay Lin Tun, a regional government minister, said the 1,479 people sent from Malaysia aboard two warships and a hospital ship on Tuesday arrived in southern Yangon on Sunday morning.
They are among 5,000 Myanmar nationals slated for phased repatriation 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 those returned agreed to go home voluntarily, but human rights monitors fear Myanmar refugees have virtually no other choice and warn that conditions for return remain unsafe.
The UN refugee agency said last week that its staff were not permitted to meet the Myanmar nationals to confirm whether their decision to return was "truly free and fully 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 community were among those sent back this time.
The deportation comes amid escalating immigration raids targeting refugee communities in Malaysia, which led to more than 50,000 refugees being detained in 2026.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced the repatriation plan in July amid rising xenophobia toward refugees, particularly Rohingya.
Kuala Lumpur is proceeding with a second phase to send back more than 3,500 refugees and migrants, citing the financial, social and security burden they pose.
Malaysia is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention and treats refugees as undocumented migrants, but it hosts about 215,600 refugees and asylum-seekers registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), including more than 126,000 largely Muslim Rohingya.
Myanmar pledged last month that the repatriation would be "safe and dignified". However, Yap Lay Sheng, a senior human rights specialist at Fortify Rights, told AFP: "It is impossible to predict how the authorities will treat those sent back".
Myanmar has faced allegations of genocide against its Muslim Rohingya community. Earlier this year, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) opened its first full genocide trial in more than a decade.
UNHCR and human rights groups say those returned could face persecution and forced conscription in a region embroiled in conflict. Myanmar has been in civil war since the military seized power from an elected government in 2021. According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), the fighting has killed more than 100,000 people since the coup.
Min Aung Hlaing, the coup leader appointed as civilian president in April, is expected to visit Malaysia soon to discuss the repatriation programme.
