Refugees with UNHCR cards need permits to work, warns immigration dept

 Immigration director-general Zakaria Shaaban says only two exemptions were given to these refugees — not possessing valid travel documents or passes, and overstaying.

Immigration director-general Zakaria Shaaban said employers who employ UNHCR card-holding refugees without valid authorisation may also be subject to legal action. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA:

Myanmar refugees holding valid United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) cards remain subject to the Immigration Act 1959/63.

Immigration director-general Zakaria Shaaban said UNHCR cardholders could be treated as undocumented migrants if they committed certain immigration offences, including working without a valid pass or permit, Bernama reported.

“Employers who employ UNHCR card-holding refugees without valid authorisation may also be subject to legal action,” he said in a statement today.

Zakaria said the exemptions given to these refugees only covered two offences under the Immigration Act — not possessing valid travel documents or passes, and overstaying.

Zakaria also denied that the immigration department had ever stated that Myanmar refugees holding UNHCR cards were not undocumented migrants.

This followed media reports claiming that UNHCR cardholders could not be subjected to immigration action and were outside the department’s jurisdiction.

Zakaria said the home ministry and the department were responsible for registering refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia through the Refugee Registration Documentation Programme.

The programme is aimed at enabling the government to have more comprehensive data on the presence of refugees and asylum seekers in the country. - FMT