YANGON – Myanmar pledged on Sept 3 “safe and dignified” returns for its citizens displaced abroad, after the United Nations and rights groups raised concerns about the upcoming repatriation of 1,500 people from Malaysia.

The Myanmar foreign ministry also repeated its disavowal of the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority, members of which campaigners fear may be plunged back into danger by the return scheme.

In July, Malaysia said Myanmar had agreed to take back 5,000 members of the Rohingya, a group which has faced a campaign of violent discrimination in Myanmar since 2017.

Both countries say a first wave of nearly 1,500 Myanmar nationals will be repatriated voluntarily in late September, although it is unclear how many Rohingya will be included.

“Myanmar is committed to working closely with Bangladesh and friendly countries to facilitate the voluntary return of verified displaced persons in a safe and dignified manner,” the foreign ministry statement said.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled Myanmar after a brutal military crackdown starting in 2017, which is the basis of a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.

More than 1.2 million live just over the border in Bangladesh, in the world’s largest refugee settlement, but talk of repatriations has yielded little progress.

Another 126,000 Rohingya live in Malaysia, alongside displaced Myanmar citizens from different ethnic groups.

Myanmar has long denied the Rohingya have a distinct heritage, saying they are descendants of immigrants from Bangladesh – even refusing to use the term “Rohingya”.

The foreign ministry repeated its assertion on Sept 3 that the term “falsely claims an ethnic identity which has never existed in M...