Today is World Refugee Day, and the new government has been urged to do the right thing to address the refugee issue in this country.

In April, the interception of a boat carrying 56 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar by the marine authorities, off the northern island of Langkawi, and the move to allow them to enter the country, signalled a fresh approach to the issue. 

Stanley Sudhagaran, co-founder of The Lifebridge Learning Centre, a school for refugee children in Butterworth, Penang, said the refugee issue had been politicised by the previous Umno-led BN government.

"While refugees here are treated badly, Umno people go about protesting on the plight of the Rohingya, sending a ship to provide aid and sending its members on overseas missions. But what for?" Stanley asked.

"Stop politicising the issue and get down to the real job of addressing the issue as refugees are human beings, just like the rest of us.

"There are already hundreds of thousands of refugees here in need of help, let's start from home," added the former chairperson of the Episcopal Commission for Migrants and Itinerant People, Bishops' Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

Stanley said his first wish for this Refugee Day is that the new government will allow the refugee children to study in our local schools.

He has written to the Education Ministry several days ago and asked for an appointment to discuss this issue.

"There is an urgent need to allow them to enter into our schools, the current schools operated by NGOs are struggling for funds during this challenging times. Educating these children also helps to protect them from being the target of criminal activities."

Stanley also suggested that refugees in the country be allowed to work, adding that the move can help reduce the intake of new foreign workers into the country.

He said many refugees now are on odd jobs, especially the womenfolk.

"Due to this, many end up in terrible living conditions and low standard of life. We need to give them the protection and permit to work to protect their quality of life and enable them to survive here with dignity.

"One of the reasons we have refugees here is because of our weak border control and enforcement," he noted.

Stanley urged the authorities to act on government officers who have been complicit in human trafficking activities.

He said a major systematic revamp of the Immigration Department is needed. For example, officers found involved in such offences should be sacked.

In June 2015, then inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar said police were investigating the identity of a man, reportedly known as "Yassin", who was believed to be the main agent for the human trafficking activities. 

Stanley also called on the government to take over the responsibility of UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in screening refugees and providing them with identity cards.

"By this, we would have full control of foreigners in our country and we can screen who is genuine. But as a start, our officers would need to go through proper training at UNHCR," he added.