Malaysia Requests UNHCR Pause New Refugee Registrations

Malaysia's foreign ministry announced that it has asked the United Nations refugee agency to temporarily stop registering new refugees while the government builds its own Domestic Protection Programme (DPP) to manage asylum‑seekers. Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Lukanisman Awang Sauni said the DPP, launched in January, will allow more structured data handling, identity verification and monitoring without relying on foreign records.

The UNHCR reported about 215,600 refugees and asylum‑seekers in Malaysia at the end of February, over half of whom are ethnic Rohingya from Myanmar. Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 refugee convention and does not permit refugees to work or study. Recent online hate speech targeting the Rohingya has increased. The suspension is intended to let UNHCR focus on resettlement to third countries when repatriation is not possible.

Malaysia also indicated plans to deport roughly 5,000 Myanmar nationals currently held in immigration detention centres, subject to agreement with Myanmar, echoing a 2021 deportation of over 1,000 nationals that proceeded despite a court‑ordered halt.