PETALING JAYA: Some asylum seekers are entering Malaysia on social visit passes while awaiting decisions on their refugee applications from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told the Dewan Rakyat today.
He said individuals from conflict-affected countries were submitting online applications for refugee status before travelling to Malaysia, despite not having received a decision from UNHCR.
“Some may be in Yemen, Syria or Afghanistan, or other countries facing circumstances that force people to leave.
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“They submit their applications, but before UNHCR in Kuala Lumpur has even made a decision, they arrive here as tourists on social visit passes,” he said during Minister’s Question Time.
Saifuddin said some applicants subsequently gathered outside the UNHCR office in Jalan Bellamy, Kuala Lumpur, to seek updates on their applications.
“Every week, they gather outside the UNHCR office to ask about the status of their applications. That is the reality,” he said.
He was responding to Putrajaya MP Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin, who raised concerns that the government’s Refugee Registration Document (DPP) programme could encourage further arrivals and create opportunities for syndicates to exploit the registration process.
Radzi questioned whether the programme would establish a separate registration system from UNHCR and what safeguards were in place to prevent it from becoming an incentive for more asylum seekers to enter the country.
Saifuddin said the government had introduced a cut-off date of January 2023 for the DPP programme to prevent it from becoming a pull factor for new arrivals.
“Anyone who entered after that date will not be given the opportunity to be considered under the DPP,” he said.
He said the government was dealing with a longstanding refugee issue involving approximately 225,000 individuals registered with UNHCR, but lacked complete information on their identities, locations and security-screening status.
Saifuddin said the DPP programme was intended to establish a credible national database through biometric registration, identity verification and security checks conducted by the police and the Immigration Department.
He did not disclose how many asylum seekers had entered Malaysia on social visit passes while awaiting decisions on their refugee applications.