KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia should decide for itself who qualifies as a refugee instead of leaving it to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Prime Minister said he agreed that firm action was needed to end the practice of the UN agency issuing cards to refugees in the country.
"Our affairs must be handled by our own machinery, not arranged by officials from outside who decide who qualifies and who does not. I agree with that," he said during Prime Minister's Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (Oct 6).
Anwar’s comments came following the Foreign Ministry’s recent remarks on reviewing the role of UNHCR in Malaysia as it seeks to reduce its reliance on the agency as it takes over refugee management.
He was replying to a supplementary question from Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin (Larut), who asked how the government would stop the UNHCR from issuing the cards so that the Home Ministry or the government could issue them instead.
Hamzah said Malaysia had not signed the Refugee Convention, yet the UNHCR remained here and continued to issue cards that allowed holders, including Rohingya, to work.
He welcomed the Home Ministry's recent announcement that it would use the Refugee Registration Document (DPP) system to give Rohingya an identity, but said the real issue was the UNHCR card.
In reply, Anwar said the UNHCR's presence was a legacy issue, as the agency had been allowed to operate here with the consent of the government of the day.
Amending the rules, as the Home Ministry had recently begun doing, required negotiations with the UN so that Malaysia would not be seen as sidelining international rules, he said.
"This is a legacy. Larut knows this too from his time at the Home Ministry," he said.
Hamzah was Home Minister from 2020 to 2022.
Anwar said Myanmar nationals from other ethnic groups, including Chin, Mon, Karen and Shan, numbered between 60,000 and 70,000 and had much the same status as the Rohingya.
The arrival of the Rohingya was not new, he said, adding that Malaysia had helped them, and the solution now was to send them home.
He said Malaysia would keep engaging Myanmar and would not follow the United States or the European Union in refusing to negotiate with the country.
"If this is not tackled, it will spread and become a serious security problem," he said.
In a Parliamentary written reply dated Oct 5, the Foreign Ministry said the review on UNHCR’s role covers the direction of the agency’s office's operations, including the scope of its role and functions.
The aim is to align them with the government-led DPP programme.
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.
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.
Anwar also said that no Rohingya refugees were among the 10,000 repatriated to Myanmar so far.
"In the records we have kept so far, there have been no Rohingyas sent back. However, this is still under discussion.
“I believe the Foreign Minister (Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan) and I will raise this issue when we meet President Min Aung Hlaing in the coming days, so that it can be addressed as best as possible," he added.
Anwar also said that the Foreign Ministry had also negotiated two clear conditions with the Myanmar government before any Myanmar refugees were returned to their home country.
These include the condition that those returned must be treated fairly, and that they cannot be denied access to hospitals.
To this, he said the conditions were both agreed to and that they are being adhered to by the Myanmar government.
