Malaysia Sends 1,500 Myanmar Nationals Back, Calling It Voluntary

Malaysia has started repatriating about 1,500 Myanmar nationals, DW reports, defying warnings from the UN and rights groups. Malaysia says the program is strictly voluntary.

Those two sentences are doing a lot of work next to each other. "Voluntary" is the government's word, and it sits against the objections Malaysia is overriding. DW also notes the repatriations come amid an uptick in anti-migrant sentiment in the country — which is the context that makes the word worth pressing on.