The Malaysian Insight

THE interim stay granted by the Kuala Lumpur High Court against the deportation of 1,200 Myanmar nationals does not mean that the migrants are safe from being deported, said Amnesty International Malaysia.

Its executive director Katrina Jorene Maliamauv said the migrants are still facing life-threatening risks.

“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,” Katrina said.

“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 said Putrajaya should grant UNHCR access to all the affected 1,200 migrants and all immigration detention centres in general, pointing out that the government has denied them access to UNCHR since August 2019.

Earlier today, the Kuala Lumpur High Court granted an interim stay against the Malaysian government from deporting the migrants.

This was after Amnesty International Malaysia and Asylum Access Malaysia jointly filed for a judicial review in the KL High Court to stop the government’s planned deportation of the individuals back to Myanmar.

The Myanmar nationals were scheduled to be deported by the Myanmar navy today at the Lumut naval base.

Instead, the court ordered a leave hearing scheduled for 10am tomorrow.

Katrina said among the 1,200 Myanmar migrants were valid UNHCR document holders, asylum seekers and children separated from their parents.

Putrajaya had decided to deport the Myanmar nationals on navy ships sent from their homeland just weeks after a coup.

Myanmar’s powerful military had taken control of the country in the coup and declared a state of emergency for a year, followed by the detention of political leaders, including de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior government officials, which it accuses of voting irregularities in the country’s election in November 2020. – February 23, 2021.