PUTRAJAYA: Around half of the refugees registered under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are from Myanmar according to their statistics, says the Immigration Department.
Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said that according to the UNHCR there are around 200,000 registered.
However, the number is currently being verified via the Refugee Documentation Registration Programme (DPP).
“Our main objective is to confirm the exact figure of refugees in this country.
“Based on the cards issued by the UNHCR it can be said that around half are from Myanmar nationals,” he said at a press conference at the department’s operations headquarters here.
In a related matter, he said that the repatriation of Myanmar nationals will continue following the conclusion of the second phase of operations.
“It is not like once we have sent back the 5,000 we are done. It will be a continuous operation.
“We do not have a set quota. If possible we want all of them to go home,” he said.
Previously the Home Ministry said that the first phase of a programme to repatriate 5,000 Myanmar nationals detained in Malaysia has started with 1,476 individuals being sent back to their home country on Sept 29.
