A Proposal for Malaysia’s Asylum Act

Abstract

Asylum is granted to people in search for international protection from persecution or serious harm in their own country. The right to asylum for refugees in Malaysia is far from realization and in dire need of a practical solution. Due to the lack of a proper enactment of Asylum Act, asylum seekers are to deal with denial of basic rights. Asylum seekers are also denied of education and healthcare due to high cost since these are not provided by the government. This article discusses the need for a proper enactment of Asylum Act in Malaysia in relation to the rising numbers of asylum seekers and refugees in the country. In this research, a comparative analysis between Malaysia’s existing laws dealing with asylum and the law of Australia, United Kingdom, Indonesia, and European Union was carried out. It was found that these countries have developed their legal framework for asylum considerably and could legally accommodate the influx of refugees into their respective countries, in contrast to Malaysia’s increasingly poor management of the refugees and asylum-seekers. The study suggests the possibility for the adoption of recommended legal principles from those countries into the proposed Malaysian Asylum Act.