吉隆坡：马来西亚于周二（9月29日）开始遣返约1500名缅甸国民，启动了一项遣返计划的第一阶段，该计划引发了人权团体的担忧。
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia began repatriating around 1,500 Myanmar nationals on Tuesday (Sep 29), launching the first phase of a return programme that has raised concerns from rights groups.
这批人是马来西亚称已同意从拘留中心“自愿”遣返的5000名缅甸国民中的首批。
The group is the first of 5,000 Myanmar nationals Malaysia says have agreed to "voluntary" repatriation from detention centres.
法新社记者周二看到，数十辆巴士在警方护送下抵达霹雳州曼绒市政厅体育场，该体育场靠近林梦海军基地。记者不得进入场内。
Dozens of buses arrived under police escort at the Majlis Perbandaran Manjung stadium near the Lumut naval base in northwestern Malaysia, AFP correspondents saw on Tuesday. Reporters were not allowed inside the grounds.
预计这些移民将在体育场完成手续后，被送往附近的海军基地，再乘船送往缅甸。
The migrants were expected to be processed before being transported to the nearby naval base and taken to Myanmar by ship.
周二目前尚不清楚这批人中有多少是罗兴亚人，马来西亚当局未透露具体数字。
It was not immediately clear on Tuesday how many in the group were Rohingya, and Malaysian authorities did not divulge the number.
但根据联合国数据，这个受迫害的穆斯林少数群体占该国19万缅甸难民和寻求庇护者的三分之二。
But the persecuted Muslim minority makes up two-thirds of the 190,000 Myanmar refugees and asylum seekers in the country, according to the United Nations.
总理安瓦尔·易卜拉欣于7月宣布，缅甸已同意接回5000名罗兴亚人，这是一次罕见的遣返推动，引发了人权团体的担忧。
Prime Minister 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.
观察人士表示，公众对难民的厌倦情绪上升，加上国内政治考量，是马来西亚转变难民政策的因素之一，尽管一些难民告诉本台，返回祖国仍不安全。
Observers say mounting public fatigue over refugees, along with domestic political expediency, were among the factors behind Malaysia’s shift in its policies towards refugees, even as some refugees told CNA it was still unsafe to return to their homeland.
此遣返计划是在当局拘留了100多名聚集在吉隆坡联合国难民署办事处外的罗兴亚人后宣布的。
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.
这些难民因面临被驱逐出槟城北部一个非法定居点的威胁，而寻求帮助。在官员确认他们持有有效的联合国文件后，他们获释了。
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.
缅甸本月初在联合国和人权团体的批评后，承诺为其流离失所的公民提供“安全且有尊严”的遣返。
Myanmar earlier this month pledged "safe and dignified" returns for its citizens displaced abroad, after criticism from the United Nations and rights groups.
安瓦尔还表示，他将邀请缅甸政变领导人、现任文官总统敏昂莱进行正式访问，以加快遣返进程。
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.
马来西亚庇护着东南亚最大的难民群体之一，但该国并非1951年《难民公约》的签署国，也不正式承认难民身份。
Malaysia, which shelters one of Southeast Asia's biggest refugee populations, is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and does not formally recognise refugee status.
法新社事实核查人员发现，马来西亚的罗兴亚难民已成为网络虚假信息活动的目标，人权倡导者称这些活动正在助长排外情绪和恐吓行为。
AFP fact-checkers have found that Rohingya refugees in Malaysia have been targeted by online disinformation campaigns that rights advocates say are fuelling xenophobia and intimidation.
许多罗兴亚人（主要为穆斯林群体）是在2017年缅甸军方的残酷镇压期间逃离该国的。
Many of the Rohingya, a mostly Muslim group, escaped Myanmar during a brutal military crackdown in 2017.