Putrajaya’s Refugee Registration Document (DPP) programme will provide valid cardholders with conditional access to formal employment sectors.

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the move, which human rights and business groups have repeatedly advocated for, will help Malaysia wean off reliance on migrant workers.

The matter came amid a months-long wave of public hostility against refugees in Malaysia, particularly the Rohingya, following disinformation campaigns which claimed that the persecuted community was demanding land and special rights.

The animosity has also spilt offline, with a group of Rohingya refugees allegedly driven out of their settlement by locals in Penang.