By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - The U.N. refugee agency said on Friday Malaysia should not deport refugees after Reuters reported that it was planning to send 1,200 Myanmar nationals back to their country.
Malaysia agreed to return them after the Myanmar military, which seized power in a Feb. 1 coup, offered to send three navy ships to pick citizens held in Malaysian immigration detention centres, officials and sources told Reuters this week.
“The principle of non-refoulement applies also in Malaysia as part of customary international law which is binding on all states,” Yante Ismail, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Kuala Lumpur, told Reuters in an emailed statement.
The U.N. refugee agency said on Saturday at least six people registered with it were among 1,200 Myanmar nationals to be deported by Malaysia next week, while the United States voiced alarm that the plan could put deportees' lives at risk.
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