The home ministry is working on a mechanism to ensure that UNHCR and local authorities jointly screen applicants before a refugee card is issued, said foreign minister Mohamad Hasan. (EPA Images pic)SEREMBAN: Malaysia should reconsider the presence of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the country if it refuses to implement a strict screening process for refugee card applicants, said foreign minister Mohamad Hasan.Mohamad, also known as Tok Mat, said the UNHCR office was a "magnet" that attracted more refugees, especially the Rohingya ethnic group, to Malaysia."Right now, there is no SOP. UNHCR gives it to refugees after doing it online.
Someone can be in Myanmar, submit the application online, and then come here to get the card directly. So we do not have proper screening, this is what we need to manage."We want cooperation and strict screening. If they do not want to cooperate, in my opinion, we should reconsider the presence of UNHCR in the country so that we do not continue to be burdened," he said after observing the early voting process at the Sendayan Air Base here today.Mohamad said the home ministry was working on a mechanism to ensure that UNHCR and local authorities jointly screen applicants before a refugee card is issued.He said the matter was also raised at a Cabinet committee meeting chaired by deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who requested that a host country agreement be expedited to set guidelines and stricter controls on the issuance of UNHCR cards.Yesterday, hundreds of Rohingya refugees camped outside the UNHCR office at Jalan Bukit Petaling in Kuala Lumpur before being transferred to the city police contingent headquarters for documentation processes.
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