Malaysia begins sending back Rohingya refugees despite safety warnings

What the report says

Malaysia has started returning nearly 1,500 Rohingya refugees to Myanmar, even as the United Nations and rights groups warned that the country is not safe for returns. According to Al Jazeera, buses carrying Myanmar nationals arrived under police escort on Tuesday at a stadium near the Lumut naval base in northwestern Malaysia, where the people were to be processed before being transported by ship.

The Malaysian government has described the operation as voluntary and said it is part of a larger arrangement to send back 5,000 Rohingya after an agreement announced by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in July. The first group is expected to leave despite objections from UNHCR, which said it had no role in the operation and argued that ongoing conflict and violence in Myanmar mean safe and dignified repatriation conditions do not exist.

Rights advocates and Rohingya representatives told Al Jazeera that people in detention may not be able to freely consent to return, especially while fighting continues in Rakhine state between Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army. They also warned that returnees could face abuse, displacement or pressure to join armed groups. Malaysia hosts a large Rohingya population but is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, which helps explain the legal and policy tensions around the case.