Malaysian court stays deportation of 1,200 Myanmar migrants

Kuala Lumpur: A Malaysian court stayed the planned deportation of 1,200 Myanmar nationals, scheduled to be sent back to Myanmar on Tuesday.

The Court intervention came after Amnesty International Malaysia and Asylum Access Malaysia jointly filed for a judicial review in the KL High court, saying that their lives would be in danger, if they were deported to Myanmar, where the Army had staged a coup in the first week of this month against the State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar president Win Myint, citing ‘election fraud in last year’s elections.

The group had to be taken back on Tuesday to Myanmar by the Myanmar’s Navy from Malaysia’s west coast. 

Katrina Jorene Maliamauv, Executive Director of Amnesty International Malaysia welcomed the court decision and urged Malaysia to grant the UNHCR access to the group to verify any asylum claims.

“Amnesty International Malaysia and Asylum Access Malaysia welcome the decision to stay the planned deportation of 1,200 individuals to Myanmar that include valid UNHCR document holders, asylum seekers and children separated from their parents still in Malaysia,” she said in a statement here.

“It’s important to note that the stay of execution granted by the court does not mean the 1,200 are safe from being deported. They are still facing life-threatening risks.

“The judicial review will proceed tomorrow at 1000 hrs. We urge the government to reconsider its plans to send this group of vulnerable people back to Myanmar, where human rights violations are currently dangerously high,” she added. (UNI)