Plans for own refugee card

PUTRAJAYA: There is a plan by the Home Ministry to issue its own refugee card instead of allowing the one by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), says its Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin.

“We are looking for a way to only accept refugee cards issued by agencies under the Home Ministry, not by the UNHCR.

“Who’s to say these cards issued by UNHCR are even valid?” the Home Minister told reporters yesterday.

Hamzah said the power to provide asylum to Rohingya refugees in the country should only be given to Malaysian authorities, not other third-party agencies.

He said many Rohingya refugees in the country claimed they were registered by the UNHCR, but the authenticity of their claims was questionable.

“The sole registration agency in the country is the National Registration Department (NRD), led by its director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh. He is the most legitimate registrar of individuals in the country.

“Why should there be a different entity registering individuals in our country?” said Hamzah at the press conference at the ministry.

“It is Malaysia who should have the sole authority to decide if an individual can live in the country legally through cards issued by its own agency.”

He said the status of Rohingya refugees in the country was a long-standing issue and currently, about 150,000 were already registered with the UNHCR.

He said the people of this country need to understand that the government did not detain individuals seeking asylum entering with valid documents.

“Those who fled Syria or Afghanistan and entered our country with valid passports, we do not detain them and put them in depots.

“But those who enter illegally, they are breaching our immigration laws. If someone breaks into your house without invitation, are they committing an offence? Or do you just let them in?

“But if someone you know seeks shelter and asks to stay at your place because they are fleeing from someone, you would be fine to allow them in.

“This is a simple analogy that the people need to understand before criticising the government for rounding up illegals. We do it because they broke our laws,” said Hamzah.

In the April 20 incident where 528 detainees rioted and broke out of the Relau immigration detention centre, Hamzah said there were 61 individuals still on the run.

On calls by residents in the nearby Sungai Bakap area for the government to close the depot due to security concerns, Hamzah said it would be looked into.