Airstrikes kill 88 across flood-ravaged regions; Malaysia to repatriate 1,476 Myanmar refugees on September 29

Members of the Sagaing Federal Unit Interim Government hand out relief supplies to flood-affected families in Sagaing Region on Aug. 13. (Credit: SFUG)

Airstrikes kill 88 across flood-ravaged regions, NUG reports

The National Unity Government (NUG) reported on Wednesday that at least 88 civilians have been killed and 157 others have been injured by 239 airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force across Sagaing, Magway, Mandalay, Tanintharyi and Bago regions, as well as Arakan, Shan, Karen, Chin, Mon, and Kachin states, from Aug. 8-23.

The NUG stated that the highest death toll was in Sagaing Region, where at least 37 civilians were killed by airstrikes and 24 were killed by floods across 14 townships since Aug. 8. “As most of the flat ground is flooded, people have nowhere to flee when airstrikes occur,” Toe Wai Aung, the Sagaing Federal Unit Interim Government minister for humanitarian affairs, rehabilitation and emergency management, told DVB.

The Sagaing Federal Unit Interim Government, which collaborates on the ground with the NUG, is a civilian administration established in November 2025 by National League for Democracy (NLD) party lawmakers from Sagaing, who were ousted from office in the 2021 military coup. Nearly 620,000 residents in 25 townships across Sagaing, Mandalay, Magway and Ayeyarwady regions, as well as Karen State, have been affected by floods.

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Malaysia to repatriate 1,476 Myanmar refugees in first phase

Malaysia will repatriate 1,476 Burma nationals next month in the first phase of a voluntary program, the Home Ministry said on Thursday, as the government moves to address the country’s long-running refugee and undocumented migrant issue, which is part of a broader program involving 5,000 eligible Burma nationals who will be returned in stages under procedures agreed by the two governments, the ministry said.

The first group was identified by the regime in Naypyidaw and will be sent back on Sept. 29 on two warships and a hospital ship operated by the Burma Navy, it said in a statement. A total of 10,388 Burma nationals were being held at immigration detention depots nationwide as of Aug. 15, according to the Home Ministry, and officials hope to complete verification of their identity and refugee claims by the year-end.

Alongside the repatriation effort, it said the government of Malaysia is also taking bold steps to decisively resolve the refugee issue that has dragged on for decades and created financial, social and security concerns. Over 95 per cent of refugees in Malaysia are from Burma, including ethnic nationalities such as the Rohingya, the Chin, the Karen, and the Mon. Conflict has been reported in all of their homelands across Burma.