Many so-called “irregular migrants” who end up on boats bound for Australia have come through Malaysia at some stage of their odyssey to claim asylum and protection.
Protection is vital for people fleeing persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. Malaysia offers some protection for those seeking asylum.
After the fall of Saigon in 1975, Vietnamese boat people started to arrive in Malaysia. Soon they were arriving in large numbers and Malaysia became the temporary home to more than 250,000 of them. But Malaysia was only willing to act as an offshore processing entity as it deemed the influx…