Malaysia not fulfilling legal obligations in treatment of refugees

The Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) and the Coalition for Child Rights Malaysia (CRCM) are appalled by the arrest and detention of 269 Rohingya asylum seekers, including 49 children, who arrived in Malaysia on June 8 by boat. The Malaysian government should immediately release these individuals and cease the practice of detaining refugees.

Malaysia’s unwillingness to legally recognise refugees – who by definition have fled their countries without choice as a result of persecution and infringement on their most basic human rights, and are in need of international protection – is in violation of the norms of customary international law, including the right to seek asylum enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the principle of non-refoulement (ie, not forcing refugees to return to a country where they are liable to be persecuted).