Malaysia begins sending back Rohingya refugees despite safety warnings

About 1,500 refugees are to be sent back in the first phase, despite criticism from rights groups.Malaysia has begun sending nearly 1,500 Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar, describing their return as voluntary despite warnings from the United Nations and rights groups that Myanmar remains unsafe for them.Dozens of buses arrived under police escort at a stadium near the Lumut naval base in northwestern Malaysia on Tuesday, the AFP news agency reported. Journalists were barred from the grounds. The passengers were expected to be processed before being taken to the base and transported to Myanmar by ship.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Myanmar airport closed following reported drone attacklist 2 of 4Malaysia offers to invite Myanmar leader in Rohingya repatriation pushlist 3 of 4Myanmar’s Van dominates Pantoja to retain flyweight belt in UFC 331list 4 of 4Myanmar military launches air strike on Rakhine market, killing at least 33end of listThe Myanmar army has repeatedly cracked down on the country’s Rohingya minority, including a wave of violence in 2017 that many rights groups have described as genocide, and which set off a major refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousa...