DIPLOMAT Tan Sri Ahmad Kamil Jaafar in his book Growing Up with the Nation (2013), wrote a chapter on the challenges of dealing with the “Boat People” – refugees fleeing a civil war in Vietnam in the 1970s.
At the height of this massive flow, Ahmad Kamil wrote, the domestic political situation in Malaysia was very tense as Malaysians didn’t take kindly to the arrivals and the economic burden they imposed. Interna-tional pressure also existed because Malaysia, which is not a signatory of the 1951 UN Conven-tion Relating to the Status of Refugees, treated the Vietnamese as illegal immigrants, not refugees.
“We could argue that we were free from any obligations to the UN-endorsed 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its principle of non-refoulement. But that would make us look callous in the eyes of the world.” Ahmad Kamil wrote.
“We knew that in the final analysis the United Nations was the only organisation with the capacity to resolve this human tragedy. In the end we were vindicated by the successful resettlement of the boat people from our shores through working closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the UN.”
(Non-refoulement is a principle of international law that forbids the returning of a victim of persecution to their country.)
Do you feel a sense of deja vu? We are seeing history repeat itself right now.
For many years, Malaysia hosted refugees from Myanmar who were escaping military oppression and atrocities. Following the military coup that overthrew the country’s elected government in 2021, the number of refugees landing on our shores further increased. Most of them are Rohingya Muslims from Rakhine State, long identified as the country’s most persecuted minority.
As of the end of February, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said there are 215,600 refugees and asylum-seekers registered in Malaysia: 193,824 are from Myanmar, comprising 126,144 Rohingyas, 15,774 Chins, and 33,002 from other ethnic groups from conflict-affected areas of Myanmar.
In recent months, rights groups say Rohingya refugees in Malay-sia are facing growing online hate campaigns and disinformation fuelling xenophobia and intimidation. Last month more than 100 Rohingya refugees gathered outside the UNHCR office in Kuala Lumpur following their relocation from a settlement in Penang. Police said the relocation was prompted by growing competition over economic opportunities and living space following an increase in their numbers.
“They know they are being targeted, so they have to seek protection. Since they are refugees, the government has the obligation to protect them,” said a Malaysian official.
In January, Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Lukanisman Awang Sauni said a Cabinet decision had been made directing the UNHCR to halt refugee registration temporarily to allow us to set up our own management system, the Refugee Registration Docu-ment (DPP) programme.
His boss, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, said Malaysia should reconsider the presence of UNHCR if it refuses to cooperate in implementing a strict screening process for refugee card applicants. Subsequently, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Myanmar has agreed to take in 5,000 Rohingya asylum seekers currently in Malaysia.
This was followed by Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution’s revelation that his ministry, along with the police and Immigration Department have begun screening Rohingya refugees as part of a process to identify 5,000 Myanmar citizens to be returned to their home country. The screening process would verify the identities and refugee status of those involved.
“The ministry has been tasked, in line with National Security Council Directive No.23, to lead the process with other relevant agencies through the DPP initiative,” he told the media.
The plan has drawn criticism from rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, who are urging Malaysia to reverse course as Rohingya refugees remain at risk of persecution and other serious rights abuses in Myanmar.
The plan then was put on hold when government spokesman Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil said the government will not repatriate refugees to Myanmar if they still face persecution or risks to their lives.
As the government is working out the finer details of the repatriation, we cannot help but to ask if the UNHCR is assisting the government in this process?
Several years ago a top National Security Council official proposed closing the UNHCR office to allow Putrajaya to manage refugees in the country better without “interference” from external influences. He had acknowledged that this could not be done so soon as a management mechanism must be in place.
Before we argue whether the UNHCR should shut down its office here, maybe we should ask ourselves who invited the UN agency to set up in the country?
Secondly, if Myanmar refuses to accept its own people, what is the guarantee that we can send them to third countries? Do we have a bilateral agreement with any recipient countries? There is already fatigue among many countries in opening their borders to refugees. Western Europe is facing an influx of immigrants from North Africa.
In the case of the boat people, the United States was involved in the war in Vietnam so, naturally, it had to accept the refugees from there.
It is easy to say refugees come to Malaysia because the UNHCR office is here, but we cannot ignore that our location, stability, and, to a certain extent, wealth have made us an attractive destination for refugees and illegal immigrants from around the region.
If the government is seeking cooperation from the UN agency as the Foreign Minister said, what kind of cooperation is it seeking?
Does the government think the refugee problem will go away should the UNHCR office close?
Does Malaysia have an existing law defining a refugee and a process to identify and verify one, including whether that process is internationally recognised?
What about those seeking political asylum? This is a separate case from that of a refugee. There must also be a clear distinction between genuine refugees, those seeking political asylum, and illegal immigrants.
We understand the government’s frustration that resettlement has been very slow but it is myopic to think Malaysia can resolve the refugee problem without involving the UNHCR.
Perhaps the government should continue working with the UNCHR office by collaborating properly with the agency until such time we can manage the refugees ourselves with a system that is recognised by the international community.
This is a very complex issue. If this is about our national security, then we need to better protect our land and maritime borders.
Once refugees – and this doesn’t just apply to the Rohingya – enter our territory, they become our obligation whether we like it or not, and regardless of whether we ratify the 1951 UN Convention.
Closing down the UNHCR office does not mean ending the refugee problem.
