KUALA LUMPUR – Putrajaya must cease treating refugees as a security problem if it opts to take over the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) operations in the country, humanitarian organisations said.
Refugee Network Centre Malaysia’s Omer Youcef said the government’s decision to take over UNHCR’s operations could benefit refugees, as it has the authority, tools, and capacities that the UN body lacked in Malaysia.
“This is generally a good move, especially if the Malaysian government collaborates with UNHCR.
“They do not have to reinvent the wheel and can avoid mistakes with the experience that UNHCR has accumulated over the years,” he told The Vibes recently.
However, the Malaysian government mainly approaches the refugee presence here as a security issue. This comes with consequences.
“The statements of many officials suggest that they do not have the correct perceptions of the issue in all its humanitarian, economic, and social dimensions.”
On October 7, then minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (special duties) Datuk Abd Latiff Ahmad said the government has proposed to cease UNHCR offices in Malaysia, adding that the government will replace its operations.
In a written parliamentary reply, Latiff said the reason behind the proposal was that UNHCR’s presence in Malaysia has only attracted more foreign migrants to obtain refugee cards to reside in the country.
He added that although UNHCR was supposed to manage refugee relocations to third countries or their countries of origin, the entries of migrants have increased, while relocation rates remain low.
However, UNHCR statistics suggested the opposite.
“(The) total numbers of overall new arrivals have declined significantly since 2013. That year, the number of new arrivals peaked at 28,434 newly arriving asylum-seekers. Numbers in later years have shown a decline,” the UNHCR noted on its official website.
However, caretaker foreign minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah has insisted the proposal will not lead to Malaysia’s severance of ties with the international body.
Saifuddin said existing ties would be preserved, as under international relations, UNHCR is still relevant as an international body, and its expertise in managing refugees is still needed by Malaysia.
The caretaker minister also said the organisation will continue to collaborate with the government during the handoff phase, and conduct training with the Home Ministry.
Refugees’ organisations have raised concerns over the proposal, claiming the move is no easy feat.
The groups also said the right intentions were needed in order for the government to successfully take over UNHCR’s operations.
Youcef said Malaysia’s lack of a legal framework for refugees is concerning as well, and that a refugee council must be established in order for the operations to be carried out professionally.
Another group, which declined to be named, was more critical of the government, saying the proposal was “easier said than done”.
A representative from the group, which provides education to refugee children in Kuala Lumpur, said the government would face a mammoth task of managing refugees if it took over operations from UNHCR.
“Talking is easy and plans can appear to be awesome, but when it comes to implementation, it could be a different story,” the representative said.
However, she said her group was open to seeing how the government plans to carry out refugee management on its own. – The Vibes, October 23, 2022
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