Malaysia starts returning 1,500 Myanmar nationals

Malaysia began repatriating around 1,500 Myanmar nationals on Tuesday, starting the first phase of a return programme that has raised concern from rights groups.

Malaysia says 5,000 Myanmar nationals have agreed to voluntary repatriation from detention centres.

Dozens of buses under police escort arrived at the Majlis Perbandaran Manjung stadium near the Lumut naval base in northwestern Malaysia. Reporters were not allowed inside the grounds. The migrants were expected to be processed before being taken to the nearby naval base and transported to Myanmar by ship.

It was not immediately clear how many people in the group were Rohingya, and Malaysian authorities did not give a figure. The United Nations says Rohingya make up two-thirds of the 190,000 Myanmar refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced in July that Myanmar had agreed to take back 5,000 Rohingya, in a rare repatriation push. Myanmar earlier this month pledged “safe and dignified” returns for its citizens displaced abroad after criticism from the United Nations and rights groups.

Malaysia shelters one of Southeast Asia's biggest refugee populations. It is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and does not formally recognise refugee status.

Many Rohingya fled Myanmar during a military crackdown in 2017.