The government has been urged to clearly recognise the documentation for refugees prepared by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in tackling the influx of economic migrants.

"The easiest way to identify the refugee status of a person is to rely on the documentation issued by us. People who don't have it are economic migrants," UNHCR commissioner Volker Turk told malaysiakini in an interview.

He said that since there was no clear instruction from the authorities over the status of refugees, the situation has become "haphazard" with over-dependence on officials on the ground.

"No instruction has been given to the police regarding the documentation. Some of them are aware of it, some are not," he said, noting that some high-ranking officers he had spoken to agreed that such documentation should be recognised.

Malaysia has firmly refused to recognise the status of refugees on grounds that it is not a party to the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees.

This poses a problem for the UNHCR and human rights groups who rely on the authorities for a clear distinction between economic migrants and refugees.

The authorities have been high-handed when handling refugees where, despite the international protection afforded them, many documented ones are treated as illegal immigrants and held in detention camps upon arrest.

The UNHCR figures show that about 300 refugees are currently detained at immigration detention centers nationwide.

Two weeks ago, 15 foreigners were arrested by the police outside the UNHCR office in Kuala Lumpur.

A similar crackdown occurred last August which saw the arrest of about 200 people.

Amicable solution

Turk said the UNHCR was "unhappy" with the latest arrest outside its office but added later that such matters "could be resolved". All the detainees were later released.

"The release shows progress. A year ago, it would not have been possible," he said, noting that those with documentation had not been arrested.

"Another positive development is where the police allowed us to interview the detainees immediately and after we documented them, they were released," he added.

He said that while it was a UNHCR policy to encourage all governments to sign the convention, Turk said he was only being "pragmatic" at the moment.

"I am looking at pragmatic solutions to work with the government, for instance, in getting the documents fully-recognised and to provide access to education," he said. This is Turk's fifth month in office.

He acknowledged that in a country that has strict policies on refugees, "it takes time to have changes (made)".

On criticisms that at least half the asylum seekers were not documented, Turk said the UNHCR was not compelled to issue documentation to all applicants.

"If a person can return to their home country or if they are economic immigrants and not entitled to the international protection, why should we give (the document) to everybody?", he asked, adding that UNHCR has clear conditions to distinguish refugees from economic migrants.

This year alone, the UNHCR office here registered about 6,000 asylum seekers. To date, 30,000 asylum seekers have been registered in KL with 20,000 of them documented, while another 9,000 applications are still being processed.

Negative impression

Turk believes that the influx of refugees is "inevitable" as long as there are human rights violations and no world peace.

He said the negative image of refugees was due to their being labelled as the cause of social problems and the general perception that they seize job opportunities of locals.

"Actually, the refugees are very resourceful people. They have gone through hell and survived. They continue life despite what they have gone through...they have a lot of strength," he stressed.

For example, he said, the Swedish government looks highly upon refugees' contributions.

"Our analysis has shown that refugees always work in areas where no Malaysians want to work in, mainly construction, plantation and garbage collection. So, it's not true that they seize job opportunities from the locals," he said.

Turk said many prejudices and fears abound over refugees who, he insists, are "normal people like you and me" but who also have gone through very difficult and traumatic experiences.