Efforts underway to repatriate over 1,400 Myanmar nationals from Malaysian detention centers

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on September 2 that coordination has been carried out to repatriate 1,476 Myanmar nationals who are currently in detention centers in Malaysia. It is stated that coordination was carried out with the Malaysian government to go and bring back 1,476 Myanmar nationals, who have been convicted for illegal stay and immigration law violations in Malaysia and subsequently detained in immigration detention centers, facing difficulties in returning to Myanmar, using Myanmar Navy vessels on August 27 and 28. However, Malaysia informed that it would not be convenient to pick them up on those dates and proposed to reschedule for September 28 and 29. Therefore, the Myanmar government will proceed with the arrangements on the dates proposed by Malaysia, according to the announcement. The state government is giving special priority to the affairs of its citizens abroad and is consistently focusing on providing necessary consular assistance through the relevant Myanmar embassies and consulates general to help and rescue Myanmar nationals facing difficulties and hardships for various reasons in foreign countries and to facilitate their return to Myanmar. Furthermore, it was also announced that in 2021, 1,086 Myanmar nationals who had served sentences in Malaysia and were facing difficulties in returning to Myanmar were repatriated to Myanmar for the first time.