Malaysia orders UNHCR to halt new refugee registrations, launches domestic system

Deputy Foreign Minister announces temporary suspension to implement domestic registration program

Malaysia has instructed the United Nations refugee agency to temporarily stop registering new refugees in the country, as the government begins operating its own system for managing asylum-seekers, a senior official announced yesterday.

Deputy Foreign Minister Lukanisman Awang Sauni told parliament that the Cabinet had decided to suspend UNHCR registrations to allow the government to implement its own refugee registration program, known as Dokumen Pendaftaran Pelarian (DPP) .

New Registration System

The DPP program came into force in January and is intended to replace the current registration system managed by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"We have gone through the Cabinet's decision and instructed the UNHCR to stop any refugee registrations for the time being because we are reorganizing the implementation of the DPP program," Lukanisman said, as reported by the Malaysian state news agency Bernama.

"Through the DPP, the government can manage data in a more organized manner, including the purposes of data coordination, identity verification, monitoring, and regulation without relying on the records of any foreign entities," he added.

Refugee Population in Malaysia

According to UNHCR, approximately 215,600 refugees and asylum-seekers were registered with the agency in Malaysia as of the end of February. The majority — some 193,824 — were from Myanmar, including:

• 126,144 Rohingyas
• 15,774 Chins
• 33,002 members of other ethnic groups who have fled persecution and conflict

Broader Immigration Enforcement Context

The introduction of the DPP follows several years of significantly tightened immigration law enforcement in Malaysia, including increased raids and arrests of those deemed to have entered the country illegally. This campaign peaked last year, when Malaysian authorities arrested approximately 92,000 undocumented migrants, compared with 12,000 in 2021.

Currently, around 21,000 people are held in immigration detention centers, with no legal limit on the length of their detention. The government has denied UNHCR access to these centers since 2019.

Rising Public Hostility

Recent months have seen growing public hostility toward Rohingya refugees in particular. As Alex Howlett reported for The Diplomat last week, more than half a million people signed a Change.org petition last month calling for the removal of Rohingya refugees from Malaysia. Prominent public figures have described the Rohingya as "criminals" and "intruders," and likened them to a "cancer" on the country.

Government Objectives

Lukanisman told parliament that the DPP aims to reduce the burden on Malaysia of managing such a large number of asylum-seekers and to exercise much tighter control over those who are admitted. Refugee registrations under the DPP "will be carried out through a strict process in collaboration with various enforcement agencies to ensure that only eligible individuals are registered and to prevent the entry of illegal immigrants in the future," Bernama paraphrased him as saying.

UNHCR Role and Repatriation Plans

The deputy minister said the temporary halt to registrations would allow UNHCR to focus on resettling already registered refugees in third countries, if they cannot be repatriated to their home nations — which is likely the case for Rohingya and many other Myanmar refugees. He added that authorities would continue to engage and cooperate regularly with UNHCR's office in Malaysia.

Lukanisman also stated that approximately 5,000 Myanmar nationals currently in immigration detention are set to be repatriated as soon as Myanmar is ready to accept them.

"Approximately 5,000 Myanmar nationals who are currently detained at the depot will be repatriated to the Myanmar government and will be sent back using naval ships, subject to the resolution process," he said.

UNHCR Response

On its website, UNHCR described the DPP program as "an important step towards a structured, predictable, and nationally owned approach to protecting people forced to flee their country." The agency stated it is "committed to supporting its implementation through technical advice, capacity sharing and cooperation, drawing on international standards and comparative practices."

Analysis and Concerns

The new program represents a clear attempt by Malaysia's government to take control of immigration policy, driven by a belief that UNHCR applies overly liberal criteria for granting refugee status. (Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention.) The move also reflects concerns about the growing difficulty of resettling refugees in third countries, particularly due to severe cuts to refugee admissions by the United States.

Human rights groups have expressed concerns about the potential impact of both the DPP program and yesterday's order for UNHCR to cease refugee registrations.