Those who fled to Malaysia but cannot prove they are in danger at home, will not be granted refugee status, said UN refugee agency UNHCR representative in Malaysia Richard Towle.

He was asked if Afghan refugees who failed the UNHCR interview should be deported from Malaysia.

“All I know is not everyone is a refugee. Those who are refugees need to be protected and those who are not refugees, can be expected to leave,” he told Malaysiakini at the launching of a photo exhibition on the refugee crisis, in Kuala Lumpur today.

He said the UNHCR has a rigorous interview process to determine if an asylum-seeker meets the definition of a refugee.

Malaysia does not recognise refugees or asylum-seekers, but allows UNHCR to process the applicants, so they can be resettled in another country.

The country took in hundreds of migrants from the Bay of Bengal, during last year’s migration crisis, with more than 320 of them still in immigration centres a year on.

The first batch of the 3,000 Syrian refugees Malaysia agreed to take in are now housed in flats in Kuala Lumpur.

There are 154,140 refugees and asylum-seekers registered with UNHCR in Malaysia as at April 2016.

Towle said governments raised legitimate security concerns surrounding refugees and asylum-seekers, as many could actually be victims of smuggling and trafficking.

"Clearly the government needs to look at the criminal side of those things, but at same time also there could be some emphasis on humanitarian aid and protection," he added at the photographic exhibition of the Asia and Europe refugee crisis by AFP this morning.

He also called for closer cooperation between Southeast Asian governments and NGOs to combat human trafficking.

"That requires a lot of close co-operation between the governments in the region and with organisations like UNHCR and International Organisation for Migration," he added.

'Odysseys: A Photographic Exhibition of Asia and Europe refugees crises by Agence France-Presse (AFP)’ is held at the White Box, Publika, until June 18.