Malaysia returns 1,479 Myanmar nationals as UNHCR says it could not check the returns were voluntary
5 October 2026
A ship carrying 1,479 Myanmar nationals reached Yangon early on Sunday after leaving the Malaysian naval base at Lumut on 29 September 2026.
The staged plan covers as many as 5,000 people, and more than 10,300 are held in Malaysia's immigration detention centres.
The UN refugee agency said its staff were not allowed to meet the Myanmar nationals to confirm whether their decisions to return were genuinely free and informed.
UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Edem Wosornu said the agency was concerned by these returns at a time when people sent back to Myanmar may face serious risks.
215,600 refugees and asylum seekers are registered with UNHCR in Malaysia, among them more than 126,000 Rohingya.
More than 100,000 people have been killed in Myanmar's civil war since the coup of 2021.
In plain words
UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees — The UN agency responsible for protecting refugees and people forced to flee their countries.
Rohingya Rohingya community of Myanmar's Rakhine State — A largely stateless minority from Myanmar, hundreds of thousands of whom have fled abroad.