KUALA LUMPUR: Refugees living outside immigration depots should be fully registered under the government's Refugee Registration Document (DPP) programme by mid-2030, says select committee chairman William Leong.
The Selayang MP said those held in depots should be registered within six months.
Winding up the debate on the Parliamentary Select Committee on Human Rights, Elections and Institutional Reform's report in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday (Oct 5), Leong said its recommendations were not meant to change the country's refugee policy.
"In reality, Malaysia has long dealt with the refugee issue without a specific legal framework," he said.
He said this had left ministries and agencies handling the same issue through different administrative mechanisms.
Leong said refugee management should not be left to any single ministry, and should instead be coordinated by the National Security Council.
He also called for tougher action against human smuggling syndicates and anyone who shelters illegal immigrants.
During the debate, Bukit Bendera MP Syerleena Abdul Rashid said the Home Ministry's refugee estimate was more than 81,000 higher than the number registered with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
She said the report recorded 214,079 refugees and asylum seekers registered with UNHCR as of Dec 31 last year, against the ministry's estimate of 295,787.
"If the government itself does not have consistent figures, how can the people believe this situation is under control?" she said.
She said the government must present Parliament with a timeline, monthly targets, a spending breakdown and progress reports on the DPP.
"Don't ask the people to pay first and ask questions later," she said.
Syerleena said arrears in treatment bills owed by UNHCR cardholders reached RM1.06mil last year.
She also said 65% of refugee children were not in formal education, and the committee's recommendations offered no specific solution.
"Without education, we are leaving a generation exposed to child labour, underage marriage, exploitation and crime," she said.
Putrajaya MP Datuk Dr Mohd Radzi Md Jidin called for the government to stop registering new refugees altogether.
He said anyone in the country without a valid permit should be treated as an illegal immigrant and sent home if caught.
"This will send a clear signal to refugees planning to come to Malaysia and to human smugglers," he said.
Mohd Radzi said the Home Ministry had told him 222,366 refugees and asylum seekers were registered with UNHCR as of June.
He said this showed the government relied entirely on UNHCR for the figure.
"This is a very dangerous step for the country's sovereignty," he said.
He said the ministry also told him 974 refugees had been resettled in third countries in the first half of this year.
"If we estimate 2,000 people are resettled in third countries each year, we would need 111 years to resettle 222,366 refugees.
"That is if we assume there are no new arrivals," he said.
He also asked how many of the 1,476 Myanmar nationals sent home on Sept 29 were refugees and how many were illegal immigrants.
The ongoing Parliament session will meet until Dec 8 this year.
