Malaysia Court: Stop Deporting Remaining 114 Myanmar Nationals

The High Court of Kuala Lumpur has issued an order to stay the deportation of 114 Myanmar migrants, the only ones left of a group of 1,200 people the Malaysian government sent back to Myanmar in defiance of an earlier ruling.

The court’s decision on Wednesday was welcomed by the rights groups Amnesty International and Asylum Access Malaysia, which condemned the move by the government of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin as a violation of the principle of international human rights.

“We believe the government owes an explanation to the people of Malaysia as to why they chose to defy the court order, and on the identity and status of all 1200 people,” said Katrina Jorene Maliamauv, executive director of Amnesty International Malaysia.

“These dangerous deportations have not been properly scrutinised and put individuals at grave risk.”

On Tuesday, Malaysia deported 1,086 Myanmar nationals despite a court order temporarily halting the repatriation amid concerns the group could be at risk if they are returned to military-ruled Myanmar.

Kairul Dzaimee Daud, director-general of Malaysia’s immigration department, said the group agreed to return “voluntarily” and were sent back on three ships belonging to Myanmar’s navy.

Daud said those sent back were all Myanmar nationals detained last year and did not include asylum-seekers or any refugees from the persecuted Rohingya minority. He did not explain why the 114 other Myanmar migrants were left behind.

‘Endangering lives of migrants’

The move came just hours after the Kuala Lumpur High Court granted an interim stay barring the removal of the 1,200 people until 10am (02:00 GMT) on Wednesday.

The order was issued in response to a request for a judicial review from Amnesty International and Asylum Access, who said their lives would be at risk and that more than a dozen of the detainees were children with at least one parent in Malaysia.

Despite the court order, the deportations went ahead as scheduled, prompting the court to issue the second stay order on Wednesday.