Fear Grips Myanmar Refugees in Malaysia as Deportations Surge

KUALA LUMPUR — Anxiety is spreading through Malaysia’s refugee community after the government deported approximately 1,500 individuals from Myanmar on Tuesday, part of a broader agreement to return at least 5,000 asylum seekers. The move has triggered widespread fear among the tens of thousands of other Myanmarese nationals residing in the country, who are now questioning who may be targeted next.

Raf*, a community leader, reported receiving over 100 calls daily from distressed refugees. “They are crying, asking me to do something,” he told Al Jazeera. The deportations coincide with a significant escalation in immigration raids, which have resulted in the detention of more than 50,000 refugees this year alone.

Heidy Quah, founder of the nonprofit Refuge for the Refugees, noted a sharp rise in enforcement activity following Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement of the repatriation deal with Myanmar’s military government in June. “Raids are happening every single day. There’s up to 50 raids or more happening every day,” Quah said. Home Affairs Minister Saifuddin Nasution stated that authorities conducted 9,700 operations between January and mid-September, averaging 37 per day.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, over 10,000 Myanmar nationals are currently held in immigration depots. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates that Malaysia hosts more than 215,000 refugees, nearly 194,000 of whom are from Myanmar. This population includes over 126,000 Rohingya, who have faced heightened hate speech online, alongside approximately 16,000 Chin refugees and 33,000 from other ethnic groups.

Community leaders indicated that the initial group of deportees did not include Rohingya individuals. Raf explained that Myanmar refuses to recognize Rohingya citizenship, making their acceptance unlikely. Instead, many deportees belong to ethnic minorities who possess valid national identification documents.

The surge in hostility aligns with a severe reduction in support resources, particularly following the closure of the US Agency for International Development in July 2025. Quah highlighted that UN agencies have also suffered funding cuts and staff reductions, leaving refugees with diminished protection and increased vulnerability to exploitation. Even holders of UNHCR identification cards have been detained for verification purposes.

Human rights advocates, including the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM), have urged the government to halt the deportations. SUHAKAM invoked the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning individuals to areas where they face persecution or serious harm. The commission expressed particular concern for the 27 children included in the recent deportation, some as young as eight years old.

The warnings come as violence in Myanmar intensifies. A recent airstrike in Rakhine state, the historical homeland of the Rohingya, reportedly killed at least 33 civilians. UN data indicates that the Myanmar military was responsible for over 700 civilian deaths during a six-month election period beginning last August.

While the Malaysian government describes the returns as voluntary, rights groups dispute this characterization. Edem Wosornu, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, criticized the process, noting that detainees were selected based on lists provided by Myanmar and that the UN had no access to verify whether the decisions were genuinely free and informed.

Malaysia launched its Refugee Registration Document (DPP) program in 2015 to provide official documentation to asylum seekers. While Raf supports the initiative if it guarantees access to work, education, and healthcare, local branches of Amnesty International and Asylum Access warned that the program must not be used to facilitate unlawful deportations.

As the deported group travels to Yangon, community leaders remain uncertain about their safety upon arrival, noting that internal travel within Myanmar remains dangerous due to ongoing conflict.