JOHOR BARU: New refugees should be registered with the relevant United Nations (UN) body and allowed to work, says Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

       He said allowing them to register with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will provide them with identification documents that will give them freedom, including the freedom to work.

       “If such a group of people are allowed to work, there will be no need for us to import millions of workers through various complicated memoranda of understanding.

       “This will help them develop skills and make their own living to lessen the burden on the government,” he said yesterday.

       The former Johor mentri besar called on the government to improve its working relationship with UNHCR to quickly resettle the refugees so that they could start afresh in other countries that accept them.

       In a statement issued following the breakout of 528 Rohingya detainees at the immigration camp in Relau, Bandar Baharu, Kedah, early Wednesday, Khaled also urged the government to immediately conduct a comprehensive and transparent investigation.

       He said repeated occurrences such as breakouts, protests and riots at immigration detention depots could be due to overcrowding and the limited government resources in managing these facilities.

       “Prolonged detainment without any explanations or plans for their future is against human rights. It is also a waste of public funds,” he added.

       Noting that Malaysia is a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council member for the 2022-2024 term, he said the country must show the will to manage the policies on refugees in a more “transparent, responsible and secure” manner.