Malaysia: UN agency urges protection after refugees return to Myanmar

Deportations of Rohingya refugees began on Tuesday, according to reports.

“We are concerned about this return at a time when people repatriated to Myanmar may face serious risks, and some people in the group may need international protection,” said UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Edem Wosornu.

No previous access

Although Malaysian authorities said the process was voluntary, it noted that those who returned had been held in immigration detention.

“This raises serious questions about whether the decision to return was truly free and informed,” he said. “UNHCR does not have access to individuals to assess this.”

The Rohingya are a mostly Muslim ethnic minority group in Myanmar, a Buddhist-majority country where the military and various resistance groups are caught up in civil war.

Myanmar’s military, which seized power in a coup in 2021, has repeatedly targeted the Rohingya community, especially in 2017, when a widely condemned military operation in Rakhine state forced several hundred thousand people to flee to other countries in Southeast Asia.

Currently, more than one million Rohingya have settled in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

Security and protection

While the UNHCR fully recognizes Malaysia’s sovereign responsibility to manage asylum and migration, it urges the authorities to ensure that their return is subject to strict safeguards, such as individual assessment and access to protection procedures.

The decision to return should be voluntary and assessed outside the place of detention, the agency said.

Additionally, no one should be returned to a country where they may face persecution, torture or other serious threats to their life and freedom.

UNHCR stressed that until conditions in Myanmar allow safe, dignified and sustainable returns, countries must continue to provide access to asylum and uphold international protection obligations.

The UN agency highlighted the need for greater regional and international support to reach a political solution and end hostilities in Myanmar.

Deadly airstrikes in Rakhine

Meanwhile, the UN’s top humanitarian agency deplored an airstrike on a market in Rakhine state on Tuesday that killed and injured dozens of people.

“Civilians must be protected,” Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher write in a post on social media, emphasizing that “international humanitarian law must be respected.”

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has strongly condemned the airstrike and called for those responsible to be held accountable.