Malaysia’s refugee registration halt risks ‘ultimate disaster’ for new arrivals

Malaysia has ordered the UN refugee agency to stop registering new refugees while it builds a biometric identification system that officials say will give them greater control over a population of more than 215,000 displaced people. But rights advocates warn the freeze risks leaving newly arrived asylum seekers with no way to prove they need protection, opening a dangerous gap in a country that does not accord them formal legal status. The cabinet ordered the United Nations High Commissioner…