UNHCR - Multi-Year Strategy for Malaysia

Key Chapter Title List

1. Executive Summary
2. Situation Analysis
3. Vision and Strategic Direction
4. Equitable Access and Representation
5. Impact Statement
6. Malaysia 2025 Indicators and Targets
7. Refugee Status Determination
8. Territorial Access, Registration, and Documentation
9. Security and Access to Justice
10. Protection Policies and Laws
11. Healthy Living
12. Self-Reliance, Economic Inclusion, and Livelihoods

Document Introduction

During the 2025-2027 period, the refugee protection environment in Malaysia will continue to face multiple challenges. The ongoing socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, global economic uncertainties, and instability in regions such as Myanmar and Afghanistan continue to disproportionately affect refugee populations. The pressure of forced displacement flows into Malaysia is expected to increase further. As of September 2024, the number of registered refugees and asylum-seekers in Malaysia reached 191,832, with 88% originating from Myanmar. Malaysia has not yet acceded to the relevant international refugee and statelessness conventions, resulting in significant gaps in the protection of refugees' basic rights, including legal employment, healthcare, and education.

This strategy builds an action framework around four core impact areas: creating an enabling protection environment, realizing rights in a safe environment, empowering communities and promoting gender equality, and accessing sustainable solutions. The report systematically analyzes Malaysia's socio-political context and the current situation of refugees and stateless persons, clarifying the strategic positioning of UNHCR—to promote the implementation of inclusive national policies and legal frameworks, strengthen community-based protection mechanisms, and expand multi-stakeholder partnerships.

The strategy's implementation pathway covers several key dimensions: First, accelerating cooperation with Malaysian authorities to enhance the government's leading role in refugee registration, while advancing the implementation of the national asylum framework roadmap, preventing refoulement risks, and providing alternatives to detention. Second, expanding refugees' access to national services, justice, and social protection mechanisms by training volunteers and NGO partners to establish a rapid response network covering areas beyond Kuala Lumpur. Third, deepening collaboration with the private sector, civil society, and academia to create legal employment opportunities, improve access to financial and digital services, while focusing on the prevention and resolution of statelessness and advocating for gender-equal reforms to nationality laws.

From an Age, Gender, and Diversity (AGD) perspective, the strategy emphasizes responding to specific needs such as child protection and gender-based violence prevention, ensuring the equitable participation of refugee populations through diverse communication channels and feedback mechanisms. At the regional level, leveraging Malaysia's role as the ASEAN Chair in 2025, UNHCR will strengthen regional advocacy on refugee issues, promote responsibility-sharing and the expansion of complementary pathways, and support a comprehensive regional solution for refugee issues related to Myanmar. The report's attached 2025 indicators and targets system provides a clear benchmark for monitoring and evaluating the strategy's implementation effectiveness, covering key areas such as registration coverage, education enrollment rates, access to health services, and livelihood improvements.