KUALA LUMPUR: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says not all who apply for refugee status with the agency will get it as successful applications depend on a number of factors.
Maja Lazic, the UNHCR deputy representative for Malaysia, said unless the individuals are being persecuted for their nationality, race, religion, political opinion or social standing, they will not be issued a UNHCR card.
“There will be people coming to us and saying, ‘I just need your card’, but already at registration we will be able to understand: you didn’t really come here because you have problems at home.
“You probably came here because you were looking for a job, or you had economic or social issues at home.
“Then we have to say, ‘Really sorry, we can’t help you.’ Our mandate is for people who are persecuted for the five reasons I mentioned, where persecution often ends up in violence and the ostracising of those individuals.”
UNHCR cards, issued to registered refugees, can provide limited protection from arrest as well as some access to health and education.
According to UNHCR, there are over 170,000 refugees and asylum-seekers in the country who account for 0.5% of Malaysia’s population. Of these, 53.6% are Rohingya.
Speaking to FMT on the sidelines of an event at Wisma Badan Peguam here, Maja said analysis of data on the number of refugees registering with UNHCR shows that arrivals peaked in 2013 and 2014.
She said the majority of refugees coming to Malaysia were from Myanmar.
“But then the curve goes steeply down. So we are really talking about a few people arriving to Malaysia in the past two to three years. Nothing of significance compared to 2013 and 2014 when there was communal violence in Rakhine state.” - FMT
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