Malaysia deported 150 asylum seekers from Myanmar despite the risk they will be arrested in the homeland, reports say.

The deportees include former navy officers seeking asylum, some of whom have been detained by the Myanmar military.

The deportations come despite Malaysia’s condemnation of violence in Myanmar since the military ousted an elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in February last year.

The reports say Malaysia plans to deport more people.

Malaysian authorities arrested six former navy officers last month and deported them by plane on October 6, the sources told Reuters, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Myanmar’s embassy in Malaysia said in a Facebook post that 150 Myanmar nationals were deported by plane on October 6 in cooperation with Malaysian immigration authorities.

Malaysia’s immigration department, the foreign ministry and prime minister’s office have made no comment on the matter.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR also has not said whether it had received asylum applications from those deported but said it was “gravely concerned” by the deportations.

“Not only in Malaysia but in the region, people fleeing Myanmar must be allowed access to territory to seek asylum and be protected against refoulement,” UNHCR said in a statement.

“People from Myanmar, already abroad, should not be forced to return when seeking international protection.”

Myanmar has been in crisis since the coup in February which was followed by widespread opposition to the return of military rule after a decade of democratic reform.

The military has arrested thousands of people including Suu Kyi as well as bureaucrats, students, and journalists in an attempt to smother dissent.

Malaysia is home to more than 100,000 Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar fleeing crackdown at home. But recently, Malaysia has been deporting more people from Myanmar due to a tougher policy on refugees and migrants.

But the deportations represent what Malaysian government critics say is a contradictory approach after Malaysian condemnation of Myanmar’s military.

It is also a departure from a regional convention of not criticising fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Malaysian opposition lawmaker Charles Santiago said the government should stop deportations and adopt a consistent policy on Myanmar based on human rights and democracy.

“Sending Myanmar refugees to a country where they will likely be jailed, probably tortured and possibly killed by a criminal junta makes the Malaysian authorities complicit in those crimes,” he told media.

Reports say that despite the criticism, Malaysia plans to deport more Myanmar nationals, community leaders have said after being briefed by Malaysian immigration authorities.