Planes, not just ships: Myanmar says most migrants returned from Malaysia flew home, as UN criticises Putrajaya’s scheme

Myanmar has repatriated nearly 10,000 of its citizens from Malaysia this year, with efforts including a recent ship carrying 1,476 returnees that docked near Yangon.

The initiative has drawn criticism from the United Nations due to concerns over the safety and voluntariness of the returnees, especially among the Rohingya minority facing persecution in Myanmar.

The repatriation includes a previously undisclosed airlift, with over 8,000 returnees reported by Myanmar's state media.

Malaysia claims the repatriations are voluntary, although rights groups question the conditions and process of these returns.

YANGON, Oct 5 — Myanmar has repatriated nearly 10,000 migrants from Malaysia this year, state media said on Monday, a day after a flotilla returning almost 1,500 of its citizens docked in the country.

The United Nations (UN) has sharply criticised Malaysia’s push to return migrants to Myanmar under an opaque scheme it says cannot guarantee safe homecomings to the war-torn nation.

A group of 1,476 returnees arrived by ship outside Yangon on Sunday, the first of 5,000 that Kuala Lumpur says Myanmar agreed to take back amid a wave of anti-migrant sentiment in Malaysia.

Rights monitors have raised concerns that members of the Rohingya minority may be sent back to Myanmar, where they have faced violent persecution, but Malaysia has not commented on the ethnicities of returnees.

Myanmar revealed on Monday that a parallel and larger repatriation push has also been taking place by plane.

Between January and August this year, “8,041 citizens were repatriated by air”, state newspaper The Global New Light of Myanmar said.

While the ship returns have been highly publicised in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur has not commented on the returns Myanmar says it organised by weekly flights.

The total number of migrants Myanmar has said returned by plane and ship this year is 9,517.

Malaysia insists returnees under its scheme agreed to voluntary repatriation from detention centres, where Myanmar says they had “faced difficulties” after serving sentences for immigration offences.

But rights groups report dire conditions in the facilities, and the UN refugee agency says staff were not allowed to verify that decisions to return were “were genuinely free and informed”.

More than 100,000 people are estimated to have been killed in Myanmar since a military coup in 2021 unleashed civil war, according to monitor organisation ACLED.

The Rohingya started fleeing the country en masse to Malaysia before that, escaping a military crackdown starting in 2017 deemed a genocide by rights groups — a charge the armed forces have always denied.

The Rohingya make up two-thirds of the 190,000 Myanmar refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia, according to UN data, and have been the focus of recent anti-migrant sentiment.

After the ships carrying the 1,476 migrants docked Sunday in Thanlyin, just south of Yangon, AFP journalists saw dozens moved to a monastery holding centre for ID and health checks.

“Necessary arrangements are continuing to facilitate their swift reunion with relatives and family members, ensuring their safe return to their respective hometowns,” The Global New Light of Myanmar said. — AFP

Police vow no cover-up in probe into schoolgirl’s death in Yong Peng

Yong Peng school had CCTV but none at the crime scene, security firm under probe, says Fadhlina

Record RM4.64b income, highest payout in eight years: Zulkifli Hasan says Tabung Haji’s governance now stronger

Targeted subsidy reforms help cut Malaysia’s 2025 bill by RM15.67b, federal audit shows

State audits flag governance weaknesses despite clean financial opinions

Govt’s debt-to-GDP ratio rises to 65.2pc, but statutory debt stays within the limit, says Audit Dept

今年，缅甸已从马来西亚遣返了近 10,000 名公民，其中包括最近一艘载有 1,476 名返乡者的船只停靠在仰光附近。

由于担心返回者的安全和自愿性，特别是面临缅甸迫害的罗兴亚少数族裔的返回，该倡议受到了联合国的批评。

此次遣返行动包括一次此前未公开的空运，据缅甸官方媒体报道，有超过 8000 名缅甸人返回家园。

马来西亚声称遣返是自愿的，但人权组织对这些遣返的条件和过程提出了质疑。

仰光，10 月 5 日——缅甸国家媒体周一表示，今年缅甸已从马来西亚遣返了近 1 万名移民。此前一天，一支船队遣返了近 1500 名停靠在该国的缅甸公民。

联合国强烈批评马来西亚推动将移民遣返回缅甸，称其采用的方案不透明，无法保证这些移民能够安全返回这个饱受战争蹂躏的国家。

周日，1476名返乡者乘船抵达仰光港外，这是吉隆坡方面表示缅甸同意接收的5000名返乡者中的第一批。此前，马来西亚国内爆发了反移民情绪。

人权观察人士担忧，罗兴亚少数族裔成员可能会被遣返回缅甸，他们在那里遭受暴力迫害，但马来西亚尚未就返回者的种族发表评论。

缅甸周一透露，与此同时，一项规模更大、并行的飞机遣返行动也在进行中。

据缅甸官方报纸《环球新光报》报道，今年1月至8月期间，“共有8041名公民乘飞机返回缅甸”。

虽然船只返航事件在马来西亚得到了广泛报道，但吉隆坡方面尚未对缅甸方面所称的每周航班返航安排发表评论。

缅甸方面表示，今年通过飞机和轮船返回的移民总数为9517人。

马来西亚坚称，根据其遣返计划返回的人员均同意从拘留中心自愿遣返，而缅甸方面则表示，他们在因移民罪行服刑后“面临困难”。

但人权组织报告称，这些设施的条件极其恶劣，联合国难民署表示，工作人员不允许核实返回的决定是否“真正自由且知情”。

据监测组织ACLED称，自2021年缅甸发生军事政变引发内战以来，估计已有超过10万人丧生。

在此之前，罗兴亚人就开始大规模逃往马来西亚，以躲避自 2017 年开始的军事镇压。人权组织认为这是一场种族灭绝——但军方一直否认这一指控。

根据联合国的数据，罗兴亚人占马来西亚 19 万缅甸难民和寻求庇护者的三分之二，并且一直是近期反移民情绪的焦点。

载有 1476 名移民的船只于周日停靠在仰光以南的丹林港后，法新社记者看到数十人被转移到一座寺庙收容中心进行身份和健康检查。

《缅甸环球新光报》称：“相关安排正在继续进行，以帮助他们尽快与亲属和家人团聚，并确保他们安全返回各自的家乡。”——法新社

警方誓言绝不掩盖永平一名女学生死亡事件

法德琳娜表示，永平学校装有监控录像，但案发现场却没有监控录像，目前安保公司正在接受调查。

创纪录的46.4亿令吉收入，八年来最高派息：祖基菲里·哈桑表示，朝圣基金局的治理更加稳固

联邦审计显示，有针对性的补贴改革有助于马来西亚2025年减少156.7亿令吉的财政支出。

尽管财务报告良好，但国家审计仍指出治理方面存在缺陷。

审计署表示，政府债务占GDP的比重升至65.2%，但法定债务仍保持在限额之内。