Most Myanmar UNHCR card holders in Malaysia refuse to register via TRIS
CNI News
3 Oct 2022
Although UNHCR card holders in Malaysia are required to register through the Tracking Refugees Information System, most Myanmar UNHCR card holders have refused to do so, according to Myanmar organizations in Malaysia.
The Minster of Home Affairs of Malaysia has adopted a policy to force UNHCR card holders through the TRIS system but most Myanmar refugees have refused to do so, Myanmar organizations told the CNI.
Secretary Steven of the Alliance of Chin Refugees told the CNI, “They are worried about their security but they think they already had UNHCR cards and do not need to worry about the system. As they have been recognized as refugees by the UN and there is no benefit for them to register through the TRIS, the UN has never encouraged them to register through the system, the main aim of it is to track the locations of refugees. The system does not protect the holder from arrests as the police do not know what the card is.”
Although most Myanmar refugees do not register through the system, some of them have already done so.
However, the UNHCR has not confirmed the adoption of the system.
UNHCR refugee cards issued in Malaysia.
The UNHCR has unable to monitor refugees from various countries in the entire country and some of them even committed crimes there.
So, the move of the Malaysian Government could not have undesirable effects, General Secretary U Chit Kaung of the Assistance Association for Myanmar Workers in Malaysia told the CNI.
He said, “Authorities can locate suspects easily in crimes. They will issue identity cards which have microchips in the same way as Malaysian citizens. If a UNHCR card holder commits a crime, they can easily track him or her. Another factor is that there are too many UNHCR card holders in Malaysia. When they arrested illegal migrants, it was found that some were using fake UNHCR cards. I think authorities want to investigate such issues.”
He added that Malaysian government is taking such measures from the security point of view as there are too many refugees in their country.
U Chit Kaung said, “The government is taking such measures from the security perspective because there are too many foreign workers, especially illegal migrant workers and refugees in its country. However, only a few of them are officially come to the work in their country. They think they will be able to address the problems of official migrant workers, who make up only one percent of foreigner in their country. So, they record everything including passport data, work permits and fingerprints so that they can find them easily if they commit crimes. I think this will not affect the refugee status.”
It was also learnt that the process of registering for UNHCR refugees through the TRIS system is lengthy.
UNHCR cards are issued to refugees who can prove that they were abused in their home countries, according to Myanmar organizations in Malaysia.
Undocumented migrant workers lose their rights to work, health and education, according to illegal migrant workers.
