Source : @saifnasution
Malaysia will press ahead with sending refugees back to their countries of origin, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said on October 29, 2026, after the court rejected the Malaysian Bar’s application to put the process on hold.
Speaking at the Home Ministry’s (KDN) monthly assembly on Thursday morning, Saifuddin said KDN and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Wisma Putra) would continue negotiations with Myanmar for the repatriation of the next group, “as long as there is no court decision directing otherwise”.
He also used the address to respond to public discussion over the past day about a proposal to give refugees holding the Refugee Registration Document (DPP) access to work, which he said had drawn various reactions and public concern. He said he had explained the matter in detail in Parliament and at several press conferences, and set out four points.
First, he said the DPP is not a pathway for refugees to settle permanently in Malaysia. “Any access to employment is temporary and subject to government conditions and control,” he said, adding that the proposal aims to manage refugees already in the country while allowing them to gain skills and work experience pending a final solution. “The goal remains the same, which is that they must leave Malaysia through the established channels.”
Second, the DPP is not an invitation for new refugees to enter Malaysia. Saifuddin said the government had set January 2023 as the eligibility cut-off date, and those who entered the country after that date would not be considered under the programme. “We are managing the existing refugee problem, not opening space for new arrivals,” he said.
Third, the DPP is not a ticket to Malaysian citizenship. Registration, identity verification or permission to work does not give any automatic right to become a citizen or to reside permanently in the country, he said. Fourth, he described the DPP as an instrument for controlling and managing refugees, not a permanent settlement policy. Through biometric registration, security screening and valid records of their whereabouts, he said, the government can identify who they are, where they are and what action is needed, including repatriation, resettlement in a third country or deportation in accordance with the law.
Saifuddin said managing refugees was neither easy nor without burden to the country, as their presence brings economic, social, political and security challenges. He added that immigration detention depots were overcrowded, with the number of detainees exceeding capacity, raising management costs as well as health and safety risks. “That is why the government is continuing negotiations with Myanmar. We cannot resolve a refugee problem that has dragged on for decades without the cooperation of the country of origin, accurate data and action grounded in the law,” he said.
“The government’s position is clear. The government’s goal is to resolve the legacy refugee problem in Malaysia, and the DPP is not meant to keep refugees in Malaysia,” he said, describing the DPP as a “data-driven” measure. “The interests of the people, and the security and sovereignty of the nation, remain the priority.”
On October 22, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur dismissed the Malaysian Bar’s application to temporarily halt the repatriation of about 5,000 Myanmar refugees and asylum seekers, ruling that a stay could not be granted before leave for judicial review was decided. Justice Norliza Othman said the dismissal was without prejudice to the Bar’s right to renew its application, and the leave application has been fixed for hearing on December 8, Free Malaysia Today reported.
The first phase of the programme saw 1,476 Myanmar nationals repatriated from the Royal Malaysian Navy base in Lumut, Perak, on September 29 aboard Myanmar Navy vessels. In a written parliamentary reply this week, Saifuddin said DPP holders would be given conditional access to formal employment as a substitute for bringing in new foreign workers, while the programme, which began on January 1, remains in its first phase focusing on immigration detention depots.
Credit : Datuk Seri Saifuddin’s X
Source: https://x.com/saifnasution/status/2115646458410229972
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