'Decision on refugee employment should be based on Home Ministry data'

 

Any decision to allow refugees to be employed should be based on Home Ministry data, said its minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

He said that his ministry is conducting and collecting data related to refugees, such as gender, age and country of origin.

This is in line with the decisions made in the National Security Council meeting and the recent cabinet meeting, he added.

“The ministry was given the responsibility to register refugees and issue them with a refugee card (refugee registration document).

“Previously, the government's initiative was to appoint a third party (Refugee Information Tracking System) but they could only register about 30,000 (individuals) compared with the data obtained from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) (185,000 people).

“The gap is huge. The NSC made a decision that the ministry has to register the refugees. Hence, it starts with data, granular data. If we want to consider them in terms of job opportunities, so we have to start with data first,” he said.

Saifuddin told reporters this after attending the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Aidilfitri open house at the agency’s headquarters today.

He elaborated that the Immigration Department was given the responsibility to register these refugees, after that, the ministry can help find them employment.

“Once we get the registration numbers, instead of them looking for work, we can help them find employment, depending on the government's policies and decisions. We are not yet in that direction; what is important now is the data,” he said.

The data can also be used to plan the next steps and engagement with the UNHCR for data sharing, he added.

“This cooperation can help speed up the planning for refugees.

“Otherwise, we are allowing various issues to arise; local sentiments to swell. For now, it may be a small thing, but it cannot be allowed to fester, or be taken lightly,” he said.

When asked to comment on the recent issue of refugee settlement in Penang, Saifuddin said no party can act on its own, and only enforcement agencies are allowed to take action, such as the police and the Immigration Department.

- Bernama