According to Mizan Aslam of the National Defence University, such commitments should include funding for management and other costs like food, shelter, and training for the refugees.
“There also needs to be a commitment from third countries to take in these refugees. They cannot remain in Malaysia indefinitely and should only use the country as a transit point,” he told FMT.
Mizan was responding to a proposal by Tumpat MP Mumtaz Nawi during the Dewan Rakyat session last Thursday.
Mumtaz had put forward the idea due to Malaysia hosting the highest number of UNHCR cardholders in Asean, as well as to address social issues related to refugees.
Mizan agreed that the measure could help mitigate social and criminal issues involving refugees in Malaysia by ensuring better management and monitoring.
“If not managed properly, the refugee issue could threaten and degrade the quality of life for local communities and disrupt the existing system, creating opportunities for criminal activities, including an increase in undocumented migrants,” he said.
He cited the example of Vietnam War refugees being placed on Pulau Bidong, Terengganu, in 1975 as a potential model.
However, international law expert Salawati Mat Basir described Mumtaz’s proposal as impractical. She said it was also wrong to compare the current refugee situation with the Vietnam War refugee transit arrangement.
“It’s different now because no country is willing to take in these refugees,” she said, raising concerns about the costs involved in building facilities if refugees were to be housed on an island.
The Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) academic emphasised the need for the government to implement a monitoring and control system for refugees as an initial step to manage their influx.
“I’ve long proposed that the government establish a control mechanism so we can determine the actual number of refugees in Malaysia and how many need to be repatriated.
“But this hasn’t been done. If it had, there wouldn’t be proposals to relocate refugees to an island or rely on third-country assistance,” she said.