LUMUT — Malaysia began repatriating around 1,500 Myanmar nationals on Tuesday, launching the first phase of a return programme that has raised concerns from rights groups.

The group is the first of 5,000 Myanmar nationals Malaysia says have agreed to “voluntary” repatriation from detention centres.

Dozens of buses arrived under police escort at the Majlis Perbandaran Manjung stadium near the Lumut naval base in northwestern Malaysia, AFP correspondents saw.

Reporters were not allowed inside the grounds.

The migrants were expected to be processed before being transported to the nearby naval base and taken to Myanmar by ship.

It was not immediately clear on Tuesday how many in the group were Rohingya, and Malaysian authorities did not divulge the number.

But the persecuted Muslim minority make up two-thirds of the 190,000 Myanmar refugees and asylum seekers in the country, according to the United Nations.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced in July that Myanmar had agreed to take back 5,000 members of the Rohingya, in a rare repatriation push that has prompted concern from rights groups.

The repatriation plan was announced after authorities detained more than 100 Rohingya who had gathered outside the UN refugee agency’s office in Kuala Lumpur.

The refugees were seeking help after being threatened with eviction from an informal settlement in northern Penang state.

They were later released after officials confirmed they held valid UN documentation.

Myanmar earlier this month pledged “safe and dignified” returns for its citizens displaced abroad, after criticism from the United Nations and rights groups.

Anwar also said he would invite Myanmar’s coup leader-turned-civilian president Min Aung Hlaing for an official visit to help expedite the repatriation process.