KUALA LUMPUR: Rohingya refugees in Malaysia have not been involved in any act of terrorism, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim.
He said the government would continue to monitor their activities to ensure they were free from any involvement in acts of terror in Malaysia.
He said statistics showed that there were 62,513 Rohingya people in Malaysia as of September this year.
He said this was based on data obtained from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
He said there was an increase of 5,812 Rohingya refugees in Malaysia in September compared to the statistics in February.
"In terms of security threats, there are no criminal activities committed by the Rohingya people in police record.”
Shahidan said police recorded 82 criminal cases involving foreigners including 78 by Myanmar citizens this year.
“However, the police record cases according to their country of origin and not on their ethnicity,” he said.
He said 2,061 Rohingya refugees in Malaysia had already been placed in the third countries by the UNHCR.
BEATRICE NITA JAY, FERNANDO FONG AND ARFA YUNUS