113 UNHCR Refugees Handed Over to NGO
KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 113 refugees, including 110 Rohingya ethnic individuals who were temporarily placed at Dataran Wira, Kuala Lumpur Contingent Police Headquarters (IPK), have been handed over to a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that will manage them.
Kuala Lumpur Police Chief, Datuk Fadil Marsus said all the refugees left the Kuala Lumpur IPK at around 4 pm yesterday heading to destinations determined by the NGO.
He said the NGO Kaladan, based in Ampang, Selangor, is responsible for managing the placement and welfare of the refugee group.
“All 113 refugees have left for destinations determined by the NGO,” he said yesterday.
He said among the refugees, the oldest individual is 60 years old, while the youngest is a one-month-old baby.
Earlier, all the refugees comprising 110 Rohingya ethnic individuals and three other individuals from Iraq and Indonesia were brought to the Kuala Lumpur IPK.
They were temporarily relocated after the area in front of the UNHCR office was deemed a sensitive location and could not be used as a temporary settlement by any individual or community.
All of them were moved to the Kuala Lumpur IPK at 8.50 pm yesterday with the cooperation of UNHCR office representatives.
The group consisted of one Iraqi man, one Somali woman and one Indonesian woman who is the wife of a Rohingya refugee.
The remaining 110 individuals were Rohingya refugees comprising 36 adult men, 21 adult women, 31 boys and 22 girls.
The documentation process for all refugees was carried out by officers and personnel of the Kuala Lumpur Criminal Investigation Department (JSJ), the Kuala Lumpur Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (JSJN), the Kuala Lumpur Internal Security and Public Order Department (JKDNKA) together with UNHCR representatives.
The documentation results found that all the Rohingya refugees involved possessed valid UNHCR documents.
Meanwhile, Immigration Director-General, Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said all 113 refugees including the 110 Rohingya individuals now handed over to the NGO will not be placed in Immigration detention depots.
He said Immigration detention depots are only used to house foreigners who do not possess valid travel documents.
According to him, individuals holding UNHCR cards are permitted to remain in Malaysia on humanitarian grounds, but their status remains subject to prevailing local laws.
Utusan Malaysia