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MALACCA: The Sub-Committees for Human Rights and Contemporary Issues and the Young Lawyers of the Malacca Bar Committee together with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) organised an introductory legal seminar on Practical Aspects of International Refugee Law and the Role and Work of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on 14 June 2008 at Kings Hotel, Malacca.

Speakers at the seminar are known refugee counsel, Mr. Amer Hamzah Arshad and Ms. Latheefa Beebi Koya. Participants at the seminar are lawyers and representatives from local NGOs.

According to Article 1(a)(2) of the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees 1951 (the Refugee Convention), the definition of a refugee is “any person who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, unwilling to avail himself to the protection of that country.”

Participants were briefed on the operation of UNHCR which began its operation in Malaysia in 1975 and is the main actor of protection and assistance for asylum-seekers and refugees in Malaysia as Malaysia is neither a signatory to the Refugee Convention nor the 1967 Protocol of the Refugee Convention. As of March, 2008, there are some 39,000 persons of concern registered with UNHCR in Malaysia. Among them, 33,000 are from Myanmar and some 10,000 are children below the age of 18.

Participants also had the exposure on the international and domestic laws concerning refugees. The internal directive of August 2005 of the Attorney General’s Chambers stipulates that all persons of concern who were registered with UNHCR prior to their arrest on immigration grounds should not be prosecuted in court, but should be released from all charges pertaining to illegal entry. For those who were registered with UNHCR after their arrest, the relevant court and prosecutor have the discretion whether to release them or not from prosecution and detention. In the meantime, UNHCR will negotiate with authorities for the release of those persons.

On the position of countries that have not ratified Refugee Convention and its Protocol, an interesting view taken by Amer Hamzah was that the principle of non-refoulement, a rule of customary international law binding all states including Malaysia, regardless of whether they have ratified the Refugee Convention or Protocol, bars them from returning a refugee to a territory where his life or freedom is threatened.

This seminar served as an eye-opener for participants on the issues of refugees and UNHCR. The Melaka Bar Human Rights Sub-Committee Chairperson Mr Anthony Chua thanked Ms Asha Dhilon the legal department head of UNHCR for Refugees and her team for sponsoring the seminar and providing the necessary assistance.

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