KUALA LUMPUR: More than 62,000 Rohingya have been registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) here as of September this year, the Dewan Rakyat was told.
"As of Sept 30, 62,153 ethnic Rohingya have registered with the UNHCR. Of this, 53,811 of them were refugees and the remaining 8,342 were asylum seekers," said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan Kassim on Monday.
Shahidan added that 2,061 Rohingya had successfully obtained asylum in third countries.
He said this when answering a question raised by Datuk Noor Azmi Ghazali (BN-Bagan Serai) in the Dewan Rakyat.
He noted that issue of Rohingya fleeing Myanmar was not a recent phenomenon.
"The Rohingya have been fleeing here since the 1970s, but increased in the 1980s when Myanmar refused to recognise them," he said.
Shahidan added that the Rohingya here are given UNHCR cards and have freedom of movement although Malaysia is not a signatory to the refugee conventions of the United Nations.
Considered to be stateless and often subjected to arbitrary violence and forced labour in Myanmar, the Rohingya are considered by the United Nations as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.
Asked if the Rohingya posed a security threat to the nation, Shahidan said they did not but are nevertheless monitored by the authorities here.
On crime, he said that current police records revealed that 78 Rohingya were involved in crime. Of this, 30 were involved in serious crimes while 48 others were involved with property crimes.
He told lawmakers that Malaysia will continue to provide aid to the Rohingya while speaking out against the atrocities committed against them.
He cited the proposed construction of a field hospital in Bangladesh as the latest example of Malaysia's commitment to help Rohingya refugees.
He also said the location for the field hospital would be decided by the Health Ministry and the National Security Council.
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