Malaysia rejects political asylum for refugees: official

Malaysia has never given political asylum to anyone, and has no plan to change that policy, a senior Malaysian Foreign Ministry official said on Monday.

Malaysia only gave temporary shelter to political refugees on humanitarian grounds, Ahmad Shabery Cheek, parliamentary secretary to the Foreign Ministry was quoted by Malaysia's national news agency Bernama as saying.

The political asylum will be used as an excuse by groups which want to enter Malaysia for economic gain, he told the parliament.

The official said giving refugees political asylum would saddle the government with unnecessary problems like providing them with jobs, homes and protection.

It is also not within Malaysia's jurisdiction, he added.

In addition, Ahmad Shabery noted that the Malaysian government did not recognize the identity card issued to refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees office in Kuala Lumpur.

The Malaysian government is not compelled to recognize and give the refugees protection and political asylum, he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

Source: Xinhua