PETALING JAYA: Activists have urged Putrajaya to leave the collection of refugee data to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), saying the home ministry does not have the expertise required for this.
North-South Initiative executive director Adrian Pereira said it was neither the government’s mandate nor did it have the expertise to decide who would qualify to be registered as a refugee.
He also voiced concern that Putrajaya might choose to deport citizens of a certain country seeking refuge here for political or security reasons if the Malaysian government was close to the said country.
“We have seen that many times,” he told FMT. “So it’s really not the government’s duty to decide who is a refugee and who isn’t. That mandate should fall on independent actors from civil society and UNHCR itself.”
Beyond Borders’ Mahi Ramakrishnan said she did not trust Putrajaya with refugees’ data, adding that the UNHCR had been doing a good job in registering and protecting the community despite the hostility it faced here.
She urged Putrajaya to prove it was sincere about looking after refugees’ rights and welfare by granting the UNHCR access to immigration depots and to issue a moratorium on enforcement raids.
“What expertise does the government have to take over this role? This is beyond ridiculous and makes a mockery of the whole process,” she said. “The onus is on the government to show it is sincere.”
She maintained that there must be a proper process to register refugees if Putrajaya wanted to take over the role, adding that it would take years to ensure officers’ were equipped with the right knowledge and expertise.
On Tuesday, home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the immigration department was working on registering refugees residing in Malaysia to collect relevant data. They would be issued a refugee card, he said.
Saifuddin was reported to have said government data showed that 14,000 refugees were being held in 19 detention centres across the country.
He also said the government did not have access to the UNHCR’s data as Malaysia was not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention.
Meanwhile, Pereira said a more pressing issue in Malaysia was the lack of legal framework to protect refugees, as they were merely categorised as undocumented migrants by law.
“The government should amend the national security council-related laws and our national security policies that deem refugees and asylum seekers to be undocumented migrants,” he said.