Malaysia sends Myanmar refugees home despite safety concerns
Malaysia started deporting around 1,500 Burma nationals on Tuesday as part of a broader refugee repatriation programme involving as many as 5,000 people, defying objections from the U.N. and human rights groups which raised concerns that Burma is not a safe country to return refugees to.
Malaysia has said that all refugees being sent home are volunteering to leave. Dozens of buses accompanied by security vehicles arrived at the Lumut naval base in Malaysia’s Perak State on Sept. 29, before being moved to the port where three Burma Navy vessels had docked, Reuters reported.
A Malaysian Ministry of Home Affairs spokesperson confirmed the deportation process had begun but declined to divulge further details, referring the media to a previous statement on Aug. 27 about the repatriation involving 1,476 Burma nationals identified by the regime in Naypyidaw.
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Returning migrant workers required to sign conscription pledge
Migrant workers from Burma returning home on leave or for short family visits from overseas or abroad are now required to sign a pledge agreeing to mandatory military service under the conscription law if summoned by the regime authorities, according to migrant worker and labor rights groups.
“People who return [to Myanmar] risk finding themselves trapped inside the country unless they prepare all the required paperwork well in advance,” a migrant worker from Burma living in Thailand told DVB on the condition of anonymity.
Moe Gyo, the chairperson of the Joint Action Committee for Burmese Affairs (JACBA), told DVB that both male and female migrant workers face a risk if they return to their homes in Burma as they could be subject to military conscription, which was enforced on Feb. 10, 2024.
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Death toll rises to 49 in airstrikes on Rakhine State
At least 49 people have been killed and 58 others injured—22 critically—following dual airstrikes by the Burma Air Force on a crowded public market and bridge in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township on Monday. Updated casualty figures released by the Arakan Army (AA) confirm the strike as the single deadliest attack on a civilian area in the state since the AA launched its most recent offensive in late-2023.
The bombardment targeted the “Indian Market” and the adjacent Kissapanadi Bridge, which spans the Kaladan River. The strategic bridge links Kyauktaw with Mrauk-U, Minbya, and Myebon townships, forming a vital road corridor across territory captured by the AA since 2024. Local humanitarian worker Wai Hun Aung warned that the fatality count is expected to rise as search-and-rescue operations continue.
The Kyauktaw strike surpasses previous major mass-casualty air attacks in the state, including the Dec. 10, 2025 airstrike on a hospital in Mrauk-U Township that killed 33 civilians, and a March 8 bombardment on an AA detention facility in Ann Township that killed 116. The AA denounced the air raids as part of a desperate campaign against non-military targets, asserting that the regime’s “Operation 4926″ continues to falter.
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News by Region
SAGAING—Four civilians, including two children, were killed and nine were injured during airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force on Kanbalu Township’s Inlaegyi village on Monday. Kanbalu was seized by the People’s Defense Force (PDF) under National Unity Government (NUG) command in 2022.
“A mother and her two year old son were killed when one of the bombs landed on their house,” a Kanbalu resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity, adding that the other two strikes killed a woman and a four- year-old. One house and one vehicle was also destroyed by the strikes. Read the full article on our website
TANINTHARYI—The bodies of 17 people were recovered during search-and-rescue operations on Monday in the region’s capital Dawei Township after flooding and landslides Sept. 24-27. Dozens of residents remain missing, according to a local resistance group called the Tavoyan National Federation.
It stated that floodwaters had receded “slightly” after the heavy rain stopped on Sept. 28, but warned residents that landslides may have caused unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the ground to shift. The regime’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology forecast heavy rain until Oct. 1.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,500 MMK)
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