Identity cards for UN refugees (Malaysia)

The Home Ministry will issue identification cards to refugees registered under the United Nations' refugee agency soon.
Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Mahmood Adam said the move would allow the government to keep track of the refugees here.

He said the card would be issued only to refugees with United Nations Commission on Human Rights card.

"We have received complaints, especially from enforcement officers who said they had a hard time checking the status of refugees. The identification card will make their job easier.

"We will constantly update the refugees' information, their whereabouts and so on," he said after an anti-human trafficking briefing for enforcement officers patrolling the Thai-Malaysian border.

He said there were about 45,000 refugees in Malaysia.

On another matter, Mahmood said 180 people had been prosecuted for human trafficking offences.

Ref: New Straits Times