"With rising levels of violence and instability, and the collapse of the Myanmar economy and social protection systems, this is simply not the time to be returning anyone to Myanmar," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement, quoted by Kyodo News.

He expressed particular concern for those at "grave risk upon return," such as political activists and military defectors.

His remarks echo a similar call made by the UN refugee agency the previous day and follow news that more than 100 Myanmar nationals were deported on Oct. 6 "without any adequate assessment of their situation as required by international law."

The Malaysian government has not confirmed the latest deportations and has been tight-lipped over the issue.

Myanmar has been mired in a political crisis since a military coup in February 2021 toppled the democratically elected national government led by civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Turk said that in line with the principle of non-refoulment -- or not returning asylum seekers to the country they have fled from -- it is prohibited under international law to send people back to a country where their human rights could be violated.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said Tuesday that since April, it has received reports of Myanmar nationals being returned to their country from Malaysia against their will. Hundreds of people have been deported between September and October, it said.

As of the end of September, there were nearly 160,000 refugees, and asylum-seekers from Myanmar registered in Malaysia, including many Rohingya Muslims, an ethnic minority, according to UNHCR figures.

Since the 2021 coup, the UN rights body also said it has documented numerous cases of reprisals against Myanmar nationals who have returned to the country from abroad. It also said opponents of the junta risk being tortured in prison or sentenced to death.

The Malaysian Advisory Group on Myanmar, a group led by a former foreign minister of Malaysia, meanwhile, has urged their government to "immediately halt all further deportations to Myanmar."

Meanwhile, the UN human rights rapporteur for the southeast Asian country said Wednesday the international community has failed the people of Myanmar since a military junta took power last year,

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military coup, with swathes of the country engulfed by fighting.

More than 2,300 people have been killed in the military's crackdown on dissent since the coup, which rights groups say includes razing villages, mass extrajudicial killings and air strikes on civilians.

"The pattern of the response of the international community to this horror has not changed," said rapporteur Thomas Andrews.

"And because of that, there is not the requisite pressure necessary to generate any kind of change in the behavior of the military junta."

He called this incomprehensible for the people of the nation formerly called Burma.

"The world is failing the people of Myanmar, to me there's no question whatsoever," said Andrews, also denouncing what he called inaction by the UN Security Council.

"There is a leadership vacuum, here in the UN and the international community," he said, quoted by AFP.

He noted there are ties between the junta and Russia and acknowledged that a Myanmar resolution imposing sanctions or an embargo on arms sales would be vetoed.

"Then what do we do? Do we just throw our hands up?," Andrews asked.

"What I urged member states to do and what I'm urging them individually and what I urge them to do today is to establish a coalition of nations who are willing to stand with and for the people of Myanmar," the diplomat said.

He noted that Russia's veto in the Security Council did not prevent many countries from punishing Moscow with sanctions for invading Ukraine.

Andrews urged the international community not to make things worse by granting legitimacy to elections announced by the junta, which he called a farce. He singled out India, which has defended its ties with the junta.

He also criticized Malaysia for deporting Myanmar asylum seekers back to their home country.