I refer to Jan A Karim's letter titled Rohingyas today, bumiputeras tomorrow and a few of the letters regarding the same issue before that.

I'd like to clarify that it is actually the United Nations High Commissionner for Refugees who accords refugee status to applicants, not a government. To say that Malaysia has recognised the Rohingyas as refugees is not really accurate. Malaysia is not a signatory to the International Refugee Convention and thus it is not bound to respect the terms of the convention.

What the government probably means is that it will respect, to a certain extent, the rights of the Rohingyas not to be treated as illegal immigrants.

Nevertheless, my opinion is that any individual Rohingya is unlikely to succeed in any foreign or local court should the Malaysian government renege on its promise and proceeds to arrest and deport him and his family.

Other than the above clarification, I agree with Jan A Karim that what the government has done is discriminatory. There are many other refugees in Malaysia of other nationalities and religious backgrounds, for example the Acehnese (mainly Muslim), the Burmese Chin (mainly Baptists) and no doubt a few Africans and Middle Easterners.

What is the Malaysian government's stand on these refugees?