THE government must explain why it defied a court order to put off the deportation Myanmar nationals back to their home country.

Amnesty International Malaysia executive director Katrina Jorene Maliamauv said this in a virtual press conference today, after the Immigration Department went ahead with the repatriation of 1,086 Myanmar nationals yesterday evening after the court issued an order to stay the processs earlier in the day.

She said Putrajaya must also clarify the status of the deportees and whether any refugees were included in the group.

“These dangerous deportations have not been properly scrutinised and put individuals at grave risk.

“The government must stop trying to railroad these deportations without accountability and the government must immediately grant the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) access to the group,” she said.

She said there are concerns over the fate of those who are en route home and the 114 Myanmar detainees awaiting deportation in Malaysia.

Katrina said that UNHCR must be given immediate access to the detention facilities to prevent human rights violations from recurring.

UNHCR has been denied access to Malaysia’s immigration detention centres since August 2019, and was likewise denied access to the 1,200 Myanmar people on the deportation list, she said.

Asylum Access Malaysia executive director Tham Hui Ying, who was present, said the authorities must provide a satisfactory explanation for why the deportation were carried out yesterday against the express order of the court.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court today issued a new interim order stopping the government from repatriating more Myanmar migrants back to their homeland.

Judge Mariana Yahya said she will decide on March 9 whether to allow the two human rights groups to challenge the government’s deportation of 1,086 Myanmar detainees to Yangon yesterday evening.

The Immigration Department had ignored a court order in going ahead with the repatriation. – February 24, 2021.