KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia plans to deport close to 100 asylum seekers from Myanmar next week, say refugee groups.
According to Reuters, they are among 1,200 Myanmar asylum seekers in the country, of which 85 are Myanmar Muslims, including women and children.
Myanmar Muslim Refugee Community founder and chairwoman Thu Zar Moung said her association represents Myanmar Muslim communities, other than the Rohingya ethnic minority.
“They don’t want to go back to Myanmar,” Thu was quoted as saying.
“Even during the trip from Malaysia to Myanmar, their lives can be threatened and (it is) dangerous.”
Those to be deported consist of refugees from the Chin and Muslim communities.
Last week, Reuters reported that Putrajaya had agreed to return 1,200 Myanmar nationals after Myanmar’s military coup on February 1, offering to send navy ships to repatriate the detainees.
James Bawi Thang Bik, from the Alliance of Chin Refugees, said nine asylum-seekers told the group that they would be deported.
However, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it has not yet been able to verify the deportation exercise, although it has been informed that unregistered asylum-seekers can be deported.
“We have expressed our concerns to the government of Malaysia at the highest level, that individuals in need of international protection should not be deported to a situation where their lives or freedoms may be at risk,” UNHCR Malaysia spokeswoman Yante Ismail said. – The Vibes, February 18, 2021
