KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia told the UN refugee agency on July 23 to temporarily stop registering new refugees while the government reorganises its national registration system.

Deputy Foreign Minister Lukanisman Awang Sauni told the Dewan Negara that the Cabinet had instructed the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to halt new registrations for the time being. 

He said the pause would support the restructuring of Malaysia’s Refugee Registration Document, or DPP, programme under government supervision.

Malaysia launched the DPP programme in January as a national system for registering refugees and asylum-seekers. UNHCR said the programme’s first phase would focus on people held in immigration detention centres.

Lukanisman said the DPP would allow the government to manage refugee data more systematically, including through data coordination, identity verification, monitoring and regulation, without relying entirely on foreign records. 

“Through the DPP, the government can manage data in a more structured manner,” he said, according to Reuters reporting on the announcement.

The minister said the temporary halt would allow UNHCR to concentrate on third-country resettlement for refugees who cannot be repatriated to their countries of origin. Malaysian authorities would continue engaging with the agency, he added. 

UNHCR did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

UNHCR recorded about 215,600 refugees and asylum-seekers in Malaysia at the end of February. Its Malaysia refugee figures showed that 193,824 were from Myanmar, including 126,144 Rohingya.

Malaysia is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and lacks a domestic legal framework for refugee protection. UNHCR has therefore led refugee registration, documentation and status determination, although its documents do not confer Malaysian residency rights.

Malaysia returned 1,086 Myanmar nationals by sea in February 2021 despite a temporary court order halting the transfer.

Human Rights Watch said rights groups had information that at least three UNHCR cardholders were among those scheduled for return, while Malaysian authorities said no Rohingya refugees or asylum-seekers were sent back.

Lukanisman also said Malaysia was preparing to return approximately 5,000 Myanmar nationals held in immigration detention centres using naval vessels.