Durable Solutions in Malaysia

Highlights

Durable Solutions

Worldwide, while UNHCR's primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees, its ultimate goal is to help find durable solutions that will allow them to rebuild their lives in dignity and peace. There are three solutions available to refugees where UNHCR can assist: voluntary repatriation; local integration; or resettlement to a third country in situations where it is impossible for a person to go back home or remain in the host country. UNHCR helps achieve one or other of these durable solutions for refugees around the world every year, but for several million refugees and a greater number of internally displaced people, these solutions are nowhere in sight. UNHCR has been highlighting these protracted situations in a bid to get movement towards solutions. In many cases, the absence of longer-term solutions aggravates protection problems.

• Voluntary repatriation is one of the solutions for refugees who have made the decision to return home. Together with their country of origin and the international community, UNHCR strives to facilitate their choice of safe return. At present, no large scale voluntary repatriation is taking place in Malaysia. With the significant political changes currently taking place in Myanmar, the Office is continuously exploring the possibilities for certain ethnic minorities from Myanmar to return home safely and with dignity.
• Local integration is a complex and gradual process with legal, economic, social and cultural dimensions. It imposes considerable demands on both the individual and the receiving society. In many cases, acquiring the nationality of the country of asylum is the culmination of this process. UNHCR estimates that, over the past decade, 1.1 million refugees around the world became citizens in their country of asylum.In Malaysia, due to the lack of prospects of refugees obtaining the nationality of the host country, UNHCR has instead focused on transitional agreements in this country of asylum by finding temporary solutions for refugees, for example; advocacy work with the host Government to formulate policy frameworks to allow refugees to work legally and advocacy work for refugees to obtain affordable healthcare in government-run facilities, and access to education.
• Resettlement is the transfer of refugees from an asylum country to another State that has agreed to admit them and ultimately grant them permanent settlement. UNHCR is mandated by its Statute and the UN General Assembly Resolutions to undertake resettlement as one of the three durable solutions. Resettlement is unique in that it is the only durable solution that involves the relocation of refugees from an asylum country to a third country. Of the millions of refugees of concern to UNHCR globally, only an estimated one percent of refugees is submitted for resettlement. In Malaysia, resettlement has been the most used durable solution for refugees. Since 2005 to date, nearly 118,000 refugees from 50 countries were submitted for resettlement consideration to as many as 15 resettlement countries. Since then, over 88,000 refugees have departed from Malaysia to a resettlement country.