REFUGEE status has been granted to 78 Rohingya, with 25 of them now eligible for local employment under the Refugee Registration Document (DPP) programme, says the Home Ministry.
The ministry said the 78 refugees were part of a group of 128 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar who had been relocated to the Special Isolation and Asylum Seekers Centre in Bidor, Perak.
It added that the group falls under the first phase of the programme, which has registered a total of 4,010 refugees since it began in January this year.
The ministry was responding to Teresa Kok (PH–Seputeh), who had asked for an update on the DPP and the number of refugees permitted to work under the programme so far.
Developed as Malaysia’s primary refugee registration system and database, the first phase of the DPP focuses on registering refugees and asylum seekers currently held in immigration detention centres nationwide.
The second phase will involve the registration of individuals holding United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees cards and is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2026, with completion targeted by Dec 31, 2029.
Successful applicants will be issued a DPP card, which serves as a government-recognised identification document allowing temporary stay in Malaysia.
