Malaysia with most of its Southeast Asian neighbours are not the signatories of the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, thus have maintained that any newly arrival aliens are illegal immigrants rather than refugees.[3] Since early 1970s, Malaysia has allowing other Muslims who stuck in a conflict on their countries to seek refugee in Malaysia especially to the Filipino Muslims in the Southern Philippines.[4]
Also in 1975, Malaysia accepted thousands of Cambodian Muslims who had fled Cambodia during the administration of Pol Pot regime. During the Indochina refugee crisis, Malaysia continued to allow a select number of Cambodian Muslims to locally integrate, assisted by the Malaysian Muslim Welfare Organisation (PEKIM), who received funds both from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Malaysian Government.[4] Starts from 1980, Malaysia permitted the local settlement for Rohingya Muslims and Acehnese Muslims who both fleeing the Muslims persecution in Burma and Aceh insurgency in Indonesia.[4]
In 2015, the Malaysian Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar stated that his ministry has spoken on the refugee issue numerous times with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), telling the world organisation that "Malaysia is not a signatory to its convention on refugees". He told that even Malaysia allow any refugees to stay here, the UNHCR should not taking any advantage of Malaysia's compassion to allowing them here, instead it is time for the United Nations to sent the refugees to another third-world nation. The minister also reminded that even if Malaysia is seen as an attractive country for the refugees to taking up the jobs that locals did not want to take it due to dangerous, dirty or demeaning nature, both the refugees and the migrant workers should not just take the law into their own hands when in Malaysia.[