COMMENT | Late last week, three Myanmar ships rolled into Lumut for the purpose of picking up human cargo. It had already been announced by the Immigration Department that up to 1,200 Myanmar nationals would be repatriated.

However, given the crisis in Myanmar where a military coup has toppled the democratically-elected government, and there is a new regime that shows no compunction in killing unarmed protestors, this arrangement should instantly raise alarms bells.

It didn’t seem to ring clearly enough with Immigration director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud, however.

He was told time and again to hold off the deportation. On Feb 13, Research Centre for the Advancement of the Community and Housing (Reach) coordinator Iskandar Abdul Samad called for a...