MORE lawyers need to provide legal assistance for refugees in the country as the laws in place do not protect them adequately, said Malaysian Bar president Abdul Fareed Abdul Gafoor.

Fareed said Malaysia lacks a properly constituted comprehensive policy framework to deal with their issues even though refugees have a significant presence in the country.

“Our laws do not accord refugees and asylum-seekers due recognition, care and protection, thus they are exposed to arrest, detention, whipping and deportation,” he said in his speech at a signing ceremony on the Ralas legal aid scheme for refugees and asylum-seekers at Wisma Badan Peguam.

Also present was the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) deputy representative for Malaysia, Maja Lazic.

According to the UNHCR, there are 124,753 registered refugees and 48,978 asylum-seekers in Malaysia, 43,710 are children below 18 and 53% of the total are Rohingya.

Fareed also said that it was heartening to note that the government has taken initiatives to give refugees the right to work in the country.

“Especially in providing access to lawful employment, education for refugee children, as well as better and affordable healthcare for refugees,” he said. 

However, Fareed said the Bar Council and the UNHCR can’t provide temporary work options to refugees as it is only the government who can allow it.

Currently, refugees are not allowed to attend national schools or work in the country due to their lack of citizenship and documentation.

In Parliament earlier in the week, Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said the government wants to allow refugees to work and sustain themselves while they are here and assured that it would not jeopardise local interests.

The Ralas pilot scheme was started by the Bar Council in October last year in collaboration with UNHCR.

The scheme provides practical training sessions for refugee communities on their legal rights and obligations under Malaysian law, especially in relation to employment, immigration, and civil and sharia law. – July 4, 2019.