Il Nuovo Postiglione - Malaysia starts sending Myanmar migrants home

The batch is the first of 5,000 Myanmar citizens Kuala Lumpur says agreed to "voluntary" repatriation from detention centres amidst a huge uptick in anti-migrant sentiment in Malaysia.

But advocacy organisations say dire conditions in detention centres may have forced their decisions, and they could face dangerous homecomings in Myanmar where war has raged since 2021.

Neither Malaysia nor Myanmar have officially clarified the number of Rohingya in the first group, and there is concern they may be returned to a country where they face persecution rights groups say amounts to genocide.

Dozens of buses arrived under police escort on Tuesday at the Majlis Perbandaran Manjung stadium near the Lumut naval base in northwestern Malaysia, AFP correspondents saw, where the migrants were to be processed.

They will then be transported to the nearby naval base and taken to Myanmar by ship.

A Myanmar security source, requesting anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to media, said the boats are due to dock at Thanlyin Navy Base just south of Yangon around the end of this week.

Marine traffic websites showed Myanmar's auxiliary support and hospital ship Than Lwin at anchor just outside the naval base.

Rohingya, a persecuted Muslim minority, make up two-thirds of the 190,000 Myanmar refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia, according to the United Nations.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced in July that Myanmar had agreed to take back 5,000 members of the Rohingya.

- 'Safe' return promised -

The plan was announced after authorities detained more than 100 Rohingya who had gathered outside the UN refugee agency's office in Kuala Lumpur.

They were seeking help after being threatened with eviction from an informal settlement in northern Penang state.

They were later released after officials confirmed they held valid UN documentation.

Myanmar earlier this month pledged "safe and dignified" returns for its citizens displaced abroad, after criticism from the United Nations and rights groups.

Last week more than 160 civil society groups in a joint statement called upon the Malaysian government to "immediately halt the deportations," pending talks with civil organisations about the situation on the ground in Myanmar.

Anwar said he would invite Myanmar's coup leader-turned-civilian president Min Aung Hlaing for an official visit to help expedite the repatriation process.

But the civil groups urged that "Malaysia's engagement with the junta must not come at the expense of its own reputation and integrity."

Malaysia's home affairs ministry last month said 5,000 individuals will undergo voluntary repatriation as agreed by the Myanmar government.

There were 10,388 Myanmar nationals held at immigration detention depots by mid-August, the ministry said, with not all considered refugees.

AFP fact-checkers have found that Rohingya refugees in Malaysia have been targeted by online disinformation campaigns that rights advocates say are fuelling xenophobia and intimidation.

Many of the Rohingya, a mostly Muslim group, escaped Myanmar during a brutal military crackdown in 2017.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled Myanmar after the offensive, which is the basis of a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.

More than 1.2 million live just over the border in Bangladesh, in the world's largest refugee settlement, but talk of repatriations from there has yielded little progress.

M.Vacanti--INP