GENEVA: The UN voiced concern Tuesday as Malaysia began sending thousands of Myanmar nationals back to the war-torn country, warning that conditions there would not allow for “safe, dignified and sustainable returns”.
Malaysia began repatriating around 1,500 Myanmar nationals on Tuesday, launching the first phase of a return programme that has raised concerns among rights groups.
The group is the first of 5,000 Myanmar nationals that Malaysia says have agreed to “voluntary” repatriation from detention centres.
“We are concerned,” United Nations refugee agency spokesman Matthew Saltmarsh told reporters in Geneva.
“With ongoing armed conflict and widespread violence and human rights violations across Myanmar, UNHCR maintains that current conditions do not permit safe, dignified and sustainable returns,” he said.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced in July that Myanmar had agreed to take back 5,000 members of its persecuted Rohingya minority, in a rare repatriation push that has prompted concern from rights groups.
Myanmar earlier this month pledged “safe and dignified” returns for its citizens displaced abroad, after criticism from the UN and rights groups.
It was not immediately clear on Tuesday how many people in the first group en route to Myanmar were Rohingya, and Malaysian authorities did not divulge the number.
But the Muslim minority makes up two-thirds of the 190,000 Myanmar refugees and asylum seekers in the country, according to the UN.
“Under international law, no one should be sent to a country where they may face persecution, torture, serious harm or other threats to life, liberty and security,” Saltmarsh said.
