Malaysia agreed to return them after the Myanmar military, which seized power in a Feb 1 coup, offered to send three navy ships to pick up its citizens held in Malaysian immigration detention centres, officials and sources told Reuters this week.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Malaysia should not deport the refugees.

“The principle of non-refoulement applies also in Malaysia as part of customary international law which is binding on all states,” Yante Ismail, a UNHCR spokesman in Kuala Lumpur, told Reuters in an emailed statement.

Immigration director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud, confirmed yesterday that 1,200 Myanmar nationals were to be sent back but did not say if any of them were refugees.

Malaysia does not formally recognise refugees, and instead classifies people who arrive without proper documents as illegal migrants.

There are more than 154,000 asylum seekers from Myanmar.

In the past, people from Myanmar detained in Malaysia have included members of the ethnic Chin, Kachin and the Muslim Rohingya communities fleeing conflict and persecution.

Rights groups have expressed concern over the safety of Myanmar refugees after the military coup.

UNHCR said Malaysian authorities had yet to inform it of the deportation but it was concerned that a “number” of those in detention may require international protection, including vulnerable women and children.

The UNHCR has not been allowed entry into Malaysia’s detention centres since August 2019, preventing it from being able to identify refugees and leaving no way out for the asylum seekers.

Malaysia has toughened its stance on immigration during the Covid-19 pandemic, arresting thousands of undocumented migrants.

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