KUALA LUMPUR: All refugees who entered Malaysia after March 2023 will not be eligible to obtain the Refugee Registration Document (DPP), says Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution.
The Home Minister said the cut-off date was intended to prevent the documentation system from becoming enticement for more refugees to enter the country.
"Those who enter the country following this will not be considered under the DPP. This eliminates the pull factor," he said during Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (Oct 13).
The DPP was developed to be Malaysia's primary refugee registration system and database.
Saifuddin Nasution said the DPP would also require refugees to undergo police and immigration screenings, alongside collecting their personal particulars.
This, he said, differs from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) data, which does not provide such information.
"Hence, the government decided to create its own database through the DPP.
"This creates credible data which can be used as an instrument to draft policies while identifying the suitable enforcement mechanisms," he said, adding that there are also about 225,000 refugees in Malaysia, according to UNHCR data.
Saifuddin Nasution said the government has set a target of screening 6,000 refugees in the first phase of the DPP, beginning with about 4,000 in Immigration detention depots.
The remaining 2,000 comprise those already within communities.
Next year, he said the government has set a target of 20,000 for the DPP next year.
Saifuddin Nasution was responding to questions from Jimmy Puah Wee Tse (PH-Tebrau) and Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin (PN-Putrajaya) on the government's targets for the DPP and whether the system could encourage more refugees to enter Malaysia to obtain refugee status.
