Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Malaysia, UNHCR to enhance ties on refugee issues

Malaysia expects to continue cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees (UNHCR) over international refugee issues, said Malaysian foreign ministry.
The ministry said in a statement that the cooperation, on humanitarian grounds, was among the highlights of the first meeting between Foreign Minister Anifah Aman and Paul Alan Vernon, representative of UNHCR to Malaysia, on Tuesday in Putrajaya, the administrative center of Malaysia.
The meeting provided the opportunity for both sides to discuss a range of issues pertaining to refugees and asylum seekers at the international level, it said.
Both Anifah and Vernon appreciated the excellent partnership between the Malaysian government and UNHCR in tackling with international refugees problems.
Malaysia, by now, is not a state party to the 1951 Convention and its Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, said the statement.
As of January 2010, there were some 79,300 refugees and asylum- seekers registered with UNHCR in Malaysia, who came from Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan, according to UNHCR website statistics.
UNHCR estimated that there might be 20,000 more unregistered in Malaysia.

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