Government to find ways to prevent entry of Rohingya illegals - Shahidan

The government will find ways to prevent the entry of more Rohingya illegal immigrants from Myanmar into this country.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said it was because the protection provided by the government to Rohingya refugees had encouraged more of them to sneak into the country illegally.

He said to date, Malaysia was hosting about 80,000 legal and illegal Rohingya migrants, therefore the various parties including the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) should give attention to this issue.

"This is one of the problems. After we provide them with shelter, many more will come here. Some say it would be cruel of us not to help them. The same thing happens in European countries after illegal immigrants are given protection.

"As the host of the ASEAN Regional Forum, I hope Malaysia will be working on something to overcome this problem," he said at a press conference after closing the ASEAN Regional Forum Disaster Relief Exercises 2015 (ARF DiREx 2015) yesterday.

Shahidan said the government had agreed to provide shelter for one year for the Rohingya refugees who were detained in Langkawi after they landed there.

Meanwhile, he also urged individuals involved with human trafficking syndicates to come forward to help police to trace and arrest the mastermind of the syndicates.

He said those involved with the syndicates might be unaware of the torture and killings of the illegal immigrants who were housed in temporary camps in the country's border areas.

He did not rule out the possibility of the involvement of local people who wanted to earn money easily through this illegal activity.