Malaysia deports 1,500 Myanmar refugees under military repatriation deal

October 2, 2026 at 01:14 PM2 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

Malaysia deported nearly 1,500 Myanmar refugees on Tuesday under a repatriation agreement with Myanmar's military government. The deportations have sparked fear among the more than 194,000 Myanmar refugees remaining in Malaysia, as immigration raids escalate.

Key Facts

Malaysia deported nearly 1,500 Myanmar refugees on Tuesday as part of a plan to send back at least 5,000 refugees under a deal with Myanmar's military government.
Immigration raids have led to the detention of more than 50,000 refugees in Malaysia this year alone.
Malaysia's Ministry of Home Affairs reports more than 10,000 Myanmar nationals are currently held in immigration depots.
Malaysia hosts more than 215,000 refugees, including nearly 194,000 from Myanmar and over 126,000 Rohingya, according to UNHCR.
Community leaders say no Rohingya were among the first group deported on Tuesday, as Myanmar denies Rohingya citizenship.

Deportation Operation

The Malaysian government deported nearly 1,500 Myanmar refugees on Tuesday, part of its stated plan to send back at least 5,000 refugees under a deal with Myanmar's military government. The deportations were carried out during escalating raids on refugee communities by immigration officials. Minister of Home Affairs Saifuddin Nasution told local media that the government conducted more than 9,700 such operations from the beginning of this year until September 17, an average of 37 operations a day. Refugee community leaders told Al Jazeera they have not identified any Rohingya among the first group deported, as many are from Myanmar's other ethnic minorities who are more likely to have valid national identification documents.

Refugee Community Fears

The deportations have sparked fear among the tens of thousands of other refugees from Myanmar in Malaysia, with one question at the top of their minds: who might be next? Raf, a leader of refugees from Myanmar living in Malaysia, told Al Jazeera he receives more than 100 calls a day from refugees crying and asking him to do something. Heidy Quah, founder and executive director of the Malaysian nonprofit Refuge for the Refugees, said raids have sharply increased since June when Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced the repatriation agreement with Myanmar. Quah said raids are happening every single day, with up to 50 raids or more occurring daily.

Rohingya Status

Myanmar officially treats the Rohingya as Bangladeshi immigrants despite the community's long roots in Myanmar and their distinct ethnic identity. Raf said the Rohingya are a problem for deportation because Myanmar denies their citizenship, and he does not think Myanmar will agree to accept all Rohingya. There are more than 126,000 Rohingya refugees in Malaysia, where they have been the target of widespread hate speech on social media in recent months.