The home minister said the government would nevertheless cooperate with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other relevant international agencies in line with their humanitarian policies to give aid to the ethnic group.
Malaysia is not a signatory to the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, also known as the 1951 Refugee Convention. The multilateral treaty under the United Nations defines who a refugee is, and sets out the rights of individuals granted asylum and the responsibilities of nations that provide asylum.
“We have no intention to sign the treaty for refugees,” Zahid told a press conference at the JW Marriott Hotel here.
He added however that the country had in the past granted shelter to refugees, including those from Vietnam, who were allowed to stay on Pulau Bidong off the coast of Terengganu in the 1970s and 1980s.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) recently said it was following closely the agreement between neighbours Myanmar and Bangladesh to set up a working group on the issue of the Rohingyas who had taken flight.
The OIC had made a stand that the refugees should be allowed to return safely to Myanmar and that Naypyidaw should take concrete measures to handle the deadly conflict which had occurred mainly in the Rakhine province which borders Bangladesh.
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) director-general Zulkifli Abu Bakar reportedly said the agency would not drive away any of the refugees, many of whom were travelling on sea vessels, and would instead provide temporary shelter for them.
The Myanmar government has claimed that the Rohingyas are Bengali immigrants from the Indian subcontinent and has denied them citizenship.
It is estimated that 1.5 million among the ethnic group have been forced to flee from Myanmar since the country obtained independence from the British in 1948.
Myanmar state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, has come under international criticism for her alleged failure to protect the minority Rohingya people.
Report: Rohingya issue shows Malaysia’s biased refugee policy