KUALA LUMPUR, Feb. 25 -- A group of United Nations (UN) experts have called out Malaysia for deporting over 1,000 Myanmar nationals which also included minors and toddlers - including a three-year-old - despite a court order halting their return on Tuesday.

The group of experts said they were appalled by Malaysia's action to deport vulnerable individuals as well as unaccompanied minors which could endanger their lives.

"The Malaysian authorities in defiance of the court order breached the principle of non-refoulement, a rule of jus cogens, which absolutely prohibits the collective deportation of migrants without an objective risk assessment being conducted in each individual case.

"Children should not have been separated from their fam...