LUMUT, Sept 29 (Bernama) -- Malaysia today began the first phase of a repatriation programme involving 1,476 Myanmar detainees, who are being sent home aboard three Myanmar naval vessels, including a hospital ship.
Home Ministry deputy secretary-general (Policy and Control) Datuk Makhzan Mahyuddin said the group comprised 1,370 men, 79 women, 20 boys and seven girls, aged between eight and 60.
The detainees were from 14 immigration depots, with the largest groups from the Belantik depot in Kedah and Tanah Merah depot in Kelantan.
“The individuals were identified by the Myanmar Government and their names submitted to Malaysia through a diplomatic note dated Aug 13, 2026.
“Following this, coordination was carried out involving the Home Ministry, Foreign Ministry, National Security Council and Defence Ministry, taking into account operational and logistical requirements,” he told a press conference onboard KD Sri Indera Sakti during the first phase of the Myanmar detainee repatriation programme at the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) base here today.
Makhzan said vessels from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, Marine Police and RMN would escort the two Myanmar warships and hospital ship to the edge of Malaysian waters as a security measure.
He said the Immigration Department was the lead operational agency for the programme, handling identity verification, documentation, inter-agency coordination, security and logistics.
“The repatriation programme is part of efforts to manage foreign nationals and immigration detainees in a more orderly manner. It is being carried out voluntarily, safely and responsibly based on procedures agreed with the Myanmar Government,” he said.
Makhzan said the Immigration Department would review the first phase, including documentation, security, logistics and inter-agency coordination, before proceeding with subsequent phases involving a total of 5,000 Myanmar nationals.
The dates and number of detainees involved in subsequent phases would be determined based on the Malaysian Government’s decision, identity verification, operational readiness and coordination with Myanmar.
Earlier, the detainees were taken to Manjung District Stadium for final health checks, identity verification and documentation, which began at 4 am.
They were then transported in 46 buses to the Lumut RMN base for repatriation.
The detainees are being repatriated aboard UMS Moattama, accompanied by UMS King Sin Phyu Shin and Myanmar Navy hospital ship UMS Thanlwin, which arrived here yesterday.
About 850 officers and personnel from various agencies, including the Immigration Department, RMN, police, National Security Council, Foreign Ministry and Home Ministry, are involved in the operation.
On July 29, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Myanmar had agreed to take back about 5,000 of its nationals held in Malaysia following discussions between the two countries.
The following day, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the ministry had begun identifying, documenting and screening the detainees in preparation for their repatriation.
-- BERNAMA