Rohingya refugees are among the 5,000 Myanmar refugees Malaysia plans to repatriate to Myanmar, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said on Tuesday.

He said the government is currently identifying and screening those to be included in the repatriation process, according to Malaysian media reports.

Saifuddin said the repatriation plan involves 5,000 refugees and confirmed that Rohingya are among them.

The government has not disclosed a specific timeline for completing the repatriation process.

Malaysia’s move follows an announcement by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim last month that Myanmar had agreed to take back an initial group of 5,000 Rohingya refugees from Malaysia.

The proposed repatriation has drawn international concern, particularly over the safety and rights of the Rohingya upon their return to Myanmar, where the community has faced persecution and prolonged conflict.

Malaysian Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil previously said Malaysia would not return the refugees if authorities found that their lives would be threatened or that they could face persecution in Myanmar.

Malaysia hosts more than 126,000 registered Rohingya refugees and asylum seekers, according to UN-linked figures cited in earlier reports.

The development comes amid renewed regional efforts to address the Rohingya crisis. Myanmar has recently said it has verified nearly 309,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh as former residents of Rakhine State, while stressing that security conditions must improve before their return.