KUALA LUMPUR: The 110 displaced Rohingya refugees from Penang, together with three other foreign nationals, have left their temporary shelter at the Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters.
The Rohingya refugees, along with an Iraqi man, a Somali woman and an Indonesian woman married to a Rohingya refugee, were transported to designated destinations by Ampang-based NGO Kaladan at about 4pm yesterday.
Earlier in the day, the cries of babies echoed through the police contingent headquarters courtyard, where the group had been temporarily housed while waiting for medical examinations and documentation.
Members of the media were allowed into the police compound at 12.30pm to observe the process, which was carried out by police and healthcare personnel, NGO representatives and officials from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The group was provided with food, infant formula, sanitary pads and other basic necessities, while several mothers were seen comforting their babies with assistance from NGO representatives.
The documentation process showed that all 110 Rohingya refugees, aged between one month and 60, possessed valid UNHCR documents.
The group comprised 36 adult men, 21 adult women, 31 boys and 22 girls.
Brickfields OCPD Asst Comm Hoo Chang Hook confirmed that all 113 individuals left the police compound and were transported to designated locations by the NGO.
On Monday, over a hundred Rohingya refugees gathered outside the UNHCR office in Jalan Bukit Petaling after being displaced from their temporary settlement in Penang.
The group was reportedly asked to leave Kampung Kuala Muda, Penaga, after residents gave them one month to vacate their homes.
In response to the incident, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim instructed the relevant authorities to act in accordance with the law to ensure public order was maintained.
The group was moved from outside the UNHCR office to the Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters at about 8.50pm on Monday.
Yesterday, Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow was reported as saying that no enforcement action had been taken against the group, who had voluntarily left Penaga on Sunday to seek assistance from the UNHCR in Kuala Lumpur.
Meanwhile, when contacted, Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said the refugees had been placed under police supervision following the incident.
He said they would not be sent to immigration detention depots, as such facilities are meant to house foreign nationals without valid travel or immigration documents.
Zakaria stressed that individuals holding UNHCR cards would be allowed to remain in Malaysia on humanitarian grounds, and will be subject to Malaysian laws.
