ALOR STAR: Immigration authorities said the hundreds of Rohingya refugees who landed in Langkawi last week will be charged in court for illegal entry.
"Those involved will be charged, and if convicted, they will serve a prison sentence," Immigration Director Mohd Ridzuan Mohd Zain, told NST.
"After completing their sentence, they will return to the depot to await deportation," he added.
However, Ridzuan raised concerns: "The issue is, where do we send them? Until a solution is found, we will continue to shelter and care for them."
In 2017, many Rohingya fled Myanmar to escape a brutal counterinsurgency campaign by the country's security forces, who were accused of widespread rape and mass killings.
Last Friday, police detained 196 Rohingya migrants after their boat illegally beached in Langkawi.
The detained migrants, including 68 men, 57 women, 32 boys, and 39 girls, were handed over to the Immigration Department.
The United Nations has called the Rohingya "the most persecuted people in the world."
Ridzuan said the refugees are being held at the Belantik Immigration Depot, located in Kuala Muda District, Kedah, around 30 to 40 kilometres from Langkawi.
Last Saturday, two more boats carrying around 300 undocumented migrants from Myanmar were turned away by the coastguard.
Since the military crackdown on the Rohingya in 2017, Malaysia has seen waves of Rohingya migrants. Between 2010 and 2024, the MMEA and other agencies detained 2,089 Myanmar migrants and intercepted 18 vessels.
As of November, there were approximately 111,410 Rohingya refugees and asylum seekers registered with the UNHCR in Malaysia, accounting for around 58 per cent of the country's total refugee population.