The Home Ministry should work with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to register the 12,000 Rohingya asylum-seekers here, said the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) today.

Cooperation with the UN agency, with its country database of roughly 46,000 refugees, could go a long way towards a systematic, orderly, and effective registration exercise, said Suhakam commissioner N Siva Subramaniam.

"I hope the authorities can make use of the facilities of the UNHCR in order to administer this matter of (Rohingya) refugees," he told reporters after visiting the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) immigration depot where the registration of Rohingyas had taken place from Aug 1.

Siva said this was a better alternative to the presence of enterprising 'agents' or middle-men who allegedly exploited the authorities' lack of resources to profit off Rohingyas and non-Rohingyas seeking to register and obtain the IMM 13 documents.

The IMM 13 documents enable refugees, otherwise un-recognised by the Malaysian authorities, to seek lawful employment and school their children.

Wrong impression

Because of the agents' imposition of sometimes exorbitant fees on the Rohingyas, many would have the impression that such money eventually serves to line the pockets of government officers, said Siva.

"The use of agents is not a healthy practice, though it may be convenient, and in the end it brings a bad name to civil servants who are truly innocent," added the commissioner.

Suhakam's visit and meeting with immigration officers at the depot followed complaints of alleged irregularities in the exercise.

Non-Rohingyas and even non-Burmese undocumented migrants were allegedly going through the interviews and being granted the coveted documents.

The displaced group's representatives pointed the finger at 'insiders' within the immigration depot while the authorities have blamed the community's leaders of selling out the interests of their own people.

Malaysiakini yesterday reported that the registration exercise had been suspended indefinitely following reports of the alleged irregularities.

Overwhelming numbers

Commenting on this, Siva suggested that the suspension could have been due to the overwhelming numbers involved.

"The reasons for the suspension can only be given by the ministry, but after our discussion (this morning), perhaps there were too many people at the depot. Secondly, the officials were perhaps not adequately prepared. Thirdly, the acts of the agents could have led to the suspension," he said.

Siva said Suhakam lauded the government's decision to register Rohingyas as it would alleviate the sufferings of the asylum-seekers, who are different from economic migrants.

He also clarified that immigration officers were not directly involved in the registration process but merely acted as 'facilitators' for ministry officials conducting the registration exercise.

In response to a query on the allegations of corruption and bribery, Siva urged those with information to file a report with the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA).

"We ourselves would like to interview those who have given any (such) money. If it is difficult for them to come (to Suhakam), they can contact our officers who can then go to these persons in order to record their statements," he said.