Refugee protection in Malaysia: a historical and international law perspective within the ASEAN context

People flee their home countries of origin for a multitude of reasons including fear of persecution, escape from armed conflict and avoiding ethnic cleansing. The factors precipitating large-scale human migration and instances of these exodus can be traced back over several centuries. Regrettably, e...

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Main Authors: Athirah Mohd Anuar,, Nadhilah A. Kadir,
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2023
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/24464/1/CL%201.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/24464/
https://www.ukm.my/cli/2023-5-cli/
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spelling my-ukm.journal.244642024-11-06T00:38:50Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/24464/ Refugee protection in Malaysia: a historical and international law perspective within the ASEAN context Athirah Mohd Anuar, Nadhilah A. Kadir, People flee their home countries of origin for a multitude of reasons including fear of persecution, escape from armed conflict and avoiding ethnic cleansing. The factors precipitating large-scale human migration and instances of these exodus can be traced back over several centuries. Regrettably, even in the present era, these occurrences of forced mass migration still persist. This study seeks to examine the historical trajectory of refugee protection in Malaysia, with a specific focus on the legal framework governing the treatment towards refugees within Malaysia’s borders. This is a qualitative legal study harnessing data from online resources including government websites, organizational repositories, case law databases, and academic journals. This study finds that within the ASEAN context, Malaysia and Myanmar have the lowest number of ratified human rights conventions among member states. Further, Malaysia’s adherence to international obligations for refugee protection is contingent upon the enactment of domestic legislation giving effect to its corresponding international instrument. Malaysia’s legal system does not distinguish between illegal immigrants, asylum-seekers or refugees, and case-law evidences differential judgements meted out for the same categories of persons, namely asylum seekers, in Malaysia. The study’s findings will provide valuable insights on the necessity of inter-state cooperation within the ASEAN region, akin to the 1989 Comprehensive Plan of Action for Indo-Chinese Refugees, in addressing the refugee crisis in Malaysia. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2023 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/24464/1/CL%201.pdf Athirah Mohd Anuar, and Nadhilah A. Kadir, (2023) Refugee protection in Malaysia: a historical and international law perspective within the ASEAN context. Current Legal Issues, 5 . pp. 1-19. ISSN 2550-1704 https://www.ukm.my/cli/2023-5-cli/
institution Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
building Tun Sri Lanang Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
content_source UKM Journal Article Repository
url_provider http://journalarticle.ukm.my/
language English
description People flee their home countries of origin for a multitude of reasons including fear of persecution, escape from armed conflict and avoiding ethnic cleansing. The factors precipitating large-scale human migration and instances of these exodus can be traced back over several centuries. Regrettably, even in the present era, these occurrences of forced mass migration still persist. This study seeks to examine the historical trajectory of refugee protection in Malaysia, with a specific focus on the legal framework governing the treatment towards refugees within Malaysia’s borders. This is a qualitative legal study harnessing data from online resources including government websites, organizational repositories, case law databases, and academic journals. This study finds that within the ASEAN context, Malaysia and Myanmar have the lowest number of ratified human rights conventions among member states. Further, Malaysia’s adherence to international obligations for refugee protection is contingent upon the enactment of domestic legislation giving effect to its corresponding international instrument. Malaysia’s legal system does not distinguish between illegal immigrants, asylum-seekers or refugees, and case-law evidences differential judgements meted out for the same categories of persons, namely asylum seekers, in Malaysia. The study’s findings will provide valuable insights on the necessity of inter-state cooperation within the ASEAN region, akin to the 1989 Comprehensive Plan of Action for Indo-Chinese Refugees, in addressing the refugee crisis in Malaysia.
format Article
author Athirah Mohd Anuar,
Nadhilah A. Kadir,
spellingShingle Athirah Mohd Anuar,
Nadhilah A. Kadir,
Refugee protection in Malaysia: a historical and international law perspective within the ASEAN context
author_facet Athirah Mohd Anuar,
Nadhilah A. Kadir,
author_sort Athirah Mohd Anuar,
title Refugee protection in Malaysia: a historical and international law perspective within the ASEAN context
title_short Refugee protection in Malaysia: a historical and international law perspective within the ASEAN context
title_full Refugee protection in Malaysia: a historical and international law perspective within the ASEAN context
title_fullStr Refugee protection in Malaysia: a historical and international law perspective within the ASEAN context
title_full_unstemmed Refugee protection in Malaysia: a historical and international law perspective within the ASEAN context
title_sort refugee protection in malaysia: a historical and international law perspective within the asean context
publisher Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
publishDate 2023
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/24464/1/CL%201.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/24464/
https://www.ukm.my/cli/2023-5-cli/
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score 13.211869