KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 — The over 1,000 Bangladeshis and Rohingya who recently arrived at Langkawi are classified as illegal immigrants as Putrajaya does not recognise any refugees, even if they come from countries in conflict, the Home Ministry said today.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the 1,158 nationals from Bangladesh and Myanmar will be held at the Belantik detention centre in Kedah over the next one to three months before they are sent back to their home countries.

“As far as Immigration is concerned, everyone is an immigrant,” Wan Junaidi told Malay Mail Online.

“We’re not a signatory to the United Nations’ Refugee Convention. We are not recognising anybody coming to our country as refugees; it doesn’t matter if the country is a country of conflict. So we classify them as illegal immigrants,” he added.

Out of the 1,158 migrants, there are 993 men, 104 women and 61 children, according to Wan Junaidi. There are 486 Rohingya and 672 Bangladeshis.

UK news website BBC reported yesterday the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) as saying that the recent discovery of dozens of bodies in a mass grave in south Thailand, believed to be of migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh, has prompted a Thai crackdown that is deterring people smugglers from landing.

BBC said the Bangladeshis and Rohingya, whom the United Nations views as one of the world’s most persecuted minorities, are usually brought by people smugglers to Thailand and detained until they can raise money to continue their journey to Malaysia and beyond.

US news channel Al Jazeera America reported Sunday that some 1,600 Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees have landed in Malaysia and Indonesia, apparently after human traffickers abandoned ship and left them alone.

Langkawi deputy police chief Jamil Ahmed reportedly said that most of the migrants were weak and thin, with one of them saying that they have not eaten for three days.

Wan Junaidi, however, disagreed that the incident has led to a humanitarian crisis in Langkawi, noting that some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and individuals are on hand to help provide the group food, water and clothing.

“It’s not a crisis. Malaysians are very helpful,” he said.

He also said it is up to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to determine who among the migrants are refugees.

“Once they are certified and accepted as refugees by UNHCR, UNHCR will give them the UNHCR card. Then they’ll be handed over to them and they’ll be under their care,” said Wan Junaidi.

He added that the Immigration Department will also work with the respective Bangladesh and Myanmar embassies and ask them to produce travel documents for their nationals held in the detention centre, before the migrants are sent back to their home countries.