Malaysian foreign minister calls for review of UNHCR’s presence

What the report says

Al Jazeera, citing AFP and Reuters, reported that Malaysia’s foreign minister, Mohamad Hasan, has called for the country to reassess the United Nations refugee agency’s presence if it does not tighten controls over refugee documentation. His remarks, reported by Malaysia’s state news agency Bernama on Tuesday, followed the detention of more than 100 Rohingya asylum seekers who had assembled outside the UNHCR office in Kuala Lumpur after being removed from homes in Penang.

Hasan said Malaysia’s Home Affairs Ministry was working toward a process in which local authorities and UNHCR jointly screen refugees before documents are issued. According to the report, he argued that UNHCR’s procedures, including online applications from outside Malaysia followed by card issuance after arrival, were encouraging more refugees to come to the country. Bernama also quoted a senior police official as saying the detained Rohingya had valid UNHCR papers and would be housed temporarily at Kuala Lumpur police headquarters.

UNHCR said it was coordinating with Malaysian authorities to safeguard the detained Rohingya and check their documents, adding that the process had helped move them toward alternative accommodation. Amnesty International Malaysia criticized the detentions, saying refugees and asylum seekers should be treated with dignity and protected under human rights standards.

The issue is politically sensitive because Malaysia has hosted many Rohingya fleeing persecution in Myanmar, despite not being party to the UN Refugee Convention. Al Jazeera reported that about 126,000 mostly Muslim Rohingya were registered with UNHCR in Malaysia at the end of February, while local hostility, online misinformation and scrutiny of the community have increased in recent months.