Nations urged to grant refugees temporary citizenship

Former Mercy Malaysia president says it will provide protection to those fleeing from conflicts and threats while they seek long-term solutions.

Jemilah-Mahmood-refugees PETALING JAYA: Mercy Malaysia founder Dr Jemilah Mahmood has called on countries hit by a migration crisis to introduce a policy allowing refugees to be granted short-term citizenship.

The under secretary-general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said a 120-day temporary legal citizenship could provide some protection to refugees, Turkey’s Anadolu Agency reported yesterday.

“It does not allow you residency in the country but at least social security, while you look for long-term solutions for these people,” she was quoted as saying.

“That takes actually a lot of burden and worry from the countries and also gives people the right to live with dignity, which is very important for every human being,” she added.

The report said Jemilah proposed the idea at IFRC’s general assembly meeting in the Turkish city of Antalya last week.

It also cited her as saying that such a programme was not needed in Turkey due to its efforts to rehabilitate refugees from neighbouring war-torn Syria.

“They are not refugees to Turkey. They are your guests and you have treated them with love and care and provided them with services,” she was quoted as saying.

The Anadolu report also cited the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) latest annual Global Trends report as recording an unprecedented 65.6 million people forced to leave their homes due to conflicts and persecution at the end of 2016.

Mahmood also said more women should participate in humanitarian aid for refugees to help reach out to other women in conflict areas.

“I think that in an era of gender equality, we need to lead as well,” she said.

“Women have a very different perspective and the ability to look at a crisis situation and see very differently from men.”

Jemilah was president of Mercy Malaysia, the country’s voluntary medical aid body, from 1999 to 2009, before becoming the chief of the United Nations Populations Fund’s (UNFPA) humanitarian response branch in 2011.

She was also one of 16 members appointed by then United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon to the advisory group of the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund in 2008.