THANLYIN: Nearly 1,500 Myanmar migrants from Malaysia returned to their war-ravaged home country on Sunday under an opaque repatriation scheme that rights monitors say cannot assure their safety.
Dozens of migrants were transported on buses to a Buddhist monastery hall for immigration and health checks, AFP journalists saw, after the returnees arrived by Myanmar Navy ships that docked at the nearby base in Thanlyin. The ships left Malaysia on Tuesday carrying 1,476 migrants, according to the Myanmar government — the first of 5,000 that Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says Myanmar agreed to take back.
"I haven't met my family yet," said Kyaw Swar Thein, 53, who worked in a coffee shop in Malaysia before he was arrested there.
The United Nations has warned conditions in Myanmar, which has been consumed by civil war since a 2021 military coup, mean safe homecomings cannot be guaranteed as required under international law. Malaysia insists all returnees agreed to voluntary repatriation from detention centres, but the UN and rights groups have raised concerns that Myanmar migrants had little choice. Myanmar pledged last month that returns will be "safe and dignified". — AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
