This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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Malaysian authorities have been accused of mistreating asylum seekers and children under the umbrella of their largest operation to date against illegal migrants. Immigration department deputy director Saravana Kumar confirms the detention of up to 2,433 people during 40 simultaneous operations.
The immigration department, army, police and local councils in Malaysia have teamed up to trace illegal migrants working in the country. According to refugee advocacy and anti-trafficking group Tenaganita, asylum seekers waiting for processing through the UNHCR are among those detained.
“We have about 110,000 or so refugees registered with the UNHCR and between 50,000 and 70,000 who are still seeking asylum, so they have not been registered yet. What we have been hearing – at least for the refugees with their cards – is that they have been released within a day as soon as UNHCR can verify their cards.
For those who are still waiting to be registered, they are still in detention. That is the group that we are extremely concerned about because we do not know what access UNHCR has to them or what opportunity they have to seek support or intervention or to state that they are asylum seekers,” Katrina Maliamauv of Tenaganita said.
Malaysia does not officially recognize the refugees and asylum seekers. They are not allowed to work under Malaysian law and those who are found to have employed refugees would be fined between RM5,000 and RM10,000 ($1,600 to $3,400).
“In Malaysia, once you have a valid work permit and a valid passport, if you do not work for the particular company that is listed on your work permit then that is also an offence of the migration act. If you do not have your valid work permits and passports then you are considered an undocumented person or referred to as an illegal migrant,” Maliamauv added.
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