KUALA LUMPUR: The government is reviewing the role of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Malaysia, with a view to gradually reducing its reliance on the agency as it takes over refugee management, says the Foreign Ministry.
The review covers the direction of the UNHCR office's operations, including the scope of its role and functions. The aim is to align them with the government-led Refugee Registration Document programme, the ministry said.
"In the long term, this direction also takes into account a gradual reduction in dependence on UNHCR, in line with the increase in the government's capacity to take over the management of refugees and asylum seekers," it said in a written parliamentary reply to Beluran MP Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee.
Kiandee had asked for the legal basis that allows UNHCR to operate here even though Malaysia is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention.
The ministry said UNHCR had operated in Malaysia since 1975, and its presence did not change Malaysia's position as a non-party to the convention and its 1967 Protocol.
It said refugee policy was governed by National Security Council Directive No. 23, revised in 2023.
All UNHCR cardholders are subject to Malaysian law, it added.
The ministry said the registration document programme allows the government to manage refugee data and verify identities without relying fully on the records of any foreign entity.
In July, the government directed UNHCR to temporarily stop registering refugees while refugee management was restructured under the programme.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan later said Malaysia should reconsider UNHCR's presence if the agency did not cooperate on screening, describing it as his view.
