Kiwi Minister Applauds Malaysia's Plan To Provide Training For Rohingya Refugees

By Nur Ashikin Abdul Aziz KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 (Bernama) -- New Zealand Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse applauds Malaysia's plan to provide semi-skilled training and normalise working rights for the Rohingya refugees in the country. "I hope Malaysia will be successful. I understand concerns of some that normalising this will make more of them come, but I frankly don't think that is a significant risk," he told the media after visiting the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)-Tzu Chi Education Centre: Harmony, here Thursday. Woodhouse, who met Deputy Prime Minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi Wednesday, also praised Malaysia's strong commitment in supporting the resettlement process to countries like New Zealand. Zahid recently announced that Malaysia would be providing training in semi-skilled areas to about 56,000 Rohingya who are UNHCR cardholders, and was looking into allowing the group to obtain employment. Woodhouse is here on a two-day working visit starting Wednesday as part of an Immigration New Zealand mission to interview refugees cases who have been submitted for resettlement in New Zealand by the UNHCR. Asked if Malaysia's efforts would help to entice New Zealand into taking in more Rohingya for resettlement, Woodhouse said he was looking at the development with "interest." New Zealand is one of 26 countries, which take part in the UNHCR regular resettlement programme. Since the Second World War, New Zealand has resettled over 33,000 refugees. The country has an annual refugee quota of 750, of which about 15 per cent are Rohingya refugees based in Malaysia. From 2005 to present New Zealand has resettled 1,997 Myanmar refugees from Malaysia, including 277 Rohingya. "Rohingya is a small (number) but growing in our community. And they have resettled very well in New Zealand and I'm quite confident it will continue," Woodhouse said. When asked to comment on reports that the US Trump administration plans to halt refugee admission to the country, Woodhouse said that the current pressure of the situation was already "overwhelming." "Not for me to comment on another country's decision, but I think that the restlessness with the movement of people highlights the importance of screening well and supporting refugees when they come. It is the best way to manage the risk that refugees may pose," he said. According to international reports, US President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order that will block Syrian refugees indefinitely, suspend all refugee admissions for 120 days while it determines which countries pose the least risk, and capped total refugee admissions for fiscal year 2017 at 50,000 ― less than half of the 110,000 proposed by former President Barack Obama's administration. Woodhouse stressed that New Zealand would continue its focus on the refugee crisis through good screening process and ensuring that the refugees taken in settled well in the country. "We don't base this heavily on the number of people that we take but also support provided to them when they come to New Zealand. We are seeing some steady progress on the refugees' ability to connect with the public," he said. --BERNAMA