The Malaysian Insight

FOR the Rohingya refugee, striking lottery is obtaining an identity card from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

That wafer-thin card makes them asylum-seekers, a status that allows them to work and mingle openly in society. Without this recognition, the Rohingya are forced to live in the shadow.

So, every morning, a snaking line of refugees forms outside the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) building in Kuala Lumpur, a testimony to how desperate many in the Rohingya community are for the agency’s identity cards.

The cards will officially recognise the asylum-seekers as refugees, giving them a semblance of legal status and, for some, placing them on a waiting list to be sent to a new country where they can finally rebuild their lives.

For Salleh Salamutullah, the agony of leaving his home has been worsened by the uncertainty of his future as he has yet to know if he qualifies for a UNHCR card.

The 26-year-old, who has been working as a cleaner in Ampang for the past four years, was one of the many Rohingya asylum-seekers standing in line at the UNHCR building since 6am.

“I’ve been here several times to check on the status of my application, but they (UNHCR staff) keep saying they’ll call me. The last time, I waited almost eight months for them to call me,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Risking it all to be in limbo

Like most of his fellow countrymen, Salleh was smuggled into Malaysia by a syndicate, which charged him RM7,000 to be taken on a boat to Thailand, before eventually landing in Sg Petani, Kedah.

But instead of finding hope at the end of his journey, Salleh said the current state of limbo was an extension of the uncertainty he escaped from in Myanmar.

Most asylum-seekers would do all they can to raise money for the syndicates, often landing themselves and their family members in debt, said president of the Rohingya Society of Malaysia (RSM), Faisal Islam Muhammad Kassim.

“Their family or friends will borrow money to save the refugees and get them released from these syndicates,” he said.

Faisal said an estimated 40,000 of Rohingya asylum-seekers in Malaysia had yet to receive their cards, adding that the main problem was the lack of clear guidelines by UNHCR.

“Honestly, we still don’t know what is the actual policy for the UNHCR to issue cards for the Rohingya. It’s very difficult for us to survive here without the cards,” he told The Malaysian Insight. 

Complicated procedure

According to Azlinariah Abdullah, a Rohingya researcher at the Asia-Europe Institute of Universiti Malaya, a stringent background check needs to be conducted for all asylum-seekers to determine their real identities.

“When a refugee lands on our shores, he will be kept in refugee camps and then divided into three categories – men, women and children,” she said.

“UNHCR officers will then conduct the first round of interviews, asking them questions about their relatives. These sessions help the officer identify from their language and accent if they are truly ethnic Rohingya or Bengalis.”

Azlinariah said refugees would then be categorised into three types: economic, political or those fleeing conflict.

She said refugees were often given three options after investigations are completed – to either return home, be placed at a temporary location on humanitarian grounds, or to be permanently relocated to a third country.

According to statistics from the UNHCR, there are 150,600 refugees registered with the agency in Malaysia by the end of April, compared with 149,500 by the end of last year.

“Considering that there are no legal or administrative provisions to deal with the issue of asylum-seekers or refugees in this country, the UNHCR is, therefore, responsible for handling all matters pertaining to the receiving, registering, documentation and determination of the status of asylum-seekers and refugees,” the UNHCR said in a statement.

UNHCR said the process of confirming the status of an asylum-seeker included interviews and thorough investigations conducted at its office. The number of interviews and time taken for investigations to be completed depends on individual cases, it said.

“The interview process and investigations allows the UNHCR to ascertain if an individual has a valid request for international protection, and is not an economic migrant.

“As soon as their status is confirmed, asylum-seekers will be given UNHCR cards,” according to the statement.

The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic group living in the state of Rakhine in Myanmar. 

Myanmar’s Citizenship Act 1982 does not recognise the Rohingya as a native ethnic group, rendering the community as illegal settlers without any state protection or benefits.

While Malaysia is not a signatory to the UN convention on refugees, the country has been sheltering refugees for decades.

Once refugees are registered with the UNHCR, they can live with local communities but have no legal right to work and have no access to healthcare or education. – June 7, 2017.