Heidy Quah, co-founder of Refuge for the Refugees, said civil society organisations hope both the government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will acknowledge that the ongoing civil war in Myanmar constitutes a humanitarian disaster that is driving people to flee the country.
Quah said recognising the group as “prima facie refugees” means acknowledging that they face severe threats to their safety in their home country and deserve immediate protection from being sent home.
“This is crucial to saving lives, and keeping people from Myanmar from being forced into military conscription,” she said in a joint statement following the launch of Stand With Myanmar, a two-day arts and culture bazaar held in conjunction with World Refugee Day starting today.
The statement noted that the government only protects UNHCR-registered refugees from deportation while allowing them to work formally, leaving a large number of refugees who were awaiting approval for their UNHCR applications at risk of being deported.
Citing data from End Detention Network, it said more than 12,000 Myanmar nationals were deported between January 2023 and June 2024. In the first 21 days of 2025, about 400 were sent back to Myanmar.
James La Seng, co-chairman of the Coalition of Burma Ethnics Malaysia (Cobem), said deportation would lead to violence, imprisonment, and even death for a refugee.
UNHCR representative in Malaysia Louise Aubin said Malaysia is still obliged to obey the non-refoulement principle even though it is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention.
She said the principle of no return to danger is enshrined under customary international law, and the government is at risk of unintentionally violating it “without institutional safeguards”.
Selayang MP William Leong, who chairs the parliamentary special select committee on human rights, election, and institutional reform, stressed the importance of clearing up misconceptions about refugees.
“Sometimes, people might take the easy way out and blame refugees and migrants for any challenges they are facing, even though it is not true,” he said.