PETALING JAYA: A civil society coalition has warned against lumping refugees together with undocumented migrants as though they are one and the same.
The CSO Platform for Reform said a blanket crackdown on both groups is not border security but a threat to human lives.
The group was responding to a call by Perikatan Nasional MP Radzi Jidin for a nationwide crackdown on undocumented migrants and refugees, including deploying the military to arrest and deport them.
“Refugees have fled war, persecution and human rights abuses, and returning them to their countries of origin without assessing their protection needs could expose them to torture, imprisonment or even death,” it said in a statement.
“A blanket enforcement approach risks placing thousands of vulnerable people, including women and children, in grave danger.”
The coalition said refugees must not be treated as a security threat simply because they lack formal immigration documentation, and their circumstances must be distinguished from cases involving human trafficking, people smuggling and immigration fraud.
Earlier, former Klang MP Charles Santiago panned Radzi for “playing to the gallery” in his call for a nationwide crackdown on undocumented migrants.
Santiago said migrant workers were not responsible for the nation’s illegal immigration problems, which he attributed to “greed, corruption, exploitative recruitment and unscrupulous employers”.
The CSO Platform for Reform said undocumented migration must be addressed through proper documentation, effective tracking and accountable enforcement.
“Some migrants may have entered Malaysia with valid documents but subsequently lost them or fallen out of valid status. Their circumstances must be properly verified,” it said.
The group also criticised the proposal to mobilise the armed forces, saying their core responsibility is to defend sovereignty and secure borders against external threats.
“Immigration enforcement and refugee management require specialised personnel, clear legal procedures and appropriate humanitarian safeguards.
“These responsibilities should not be reduced to mass arrests and deportations, nor should military deployment be presented as a substitute for effective immigration administration,” it said.
It urged the government to strengthen civilian agencies, investigate trafficking syndicates and corruption, hold exploitative employers accountable, and establish a transparent mechanism to assess refugee protection needs before any deportation.