A/HRC/44/40/Add.3 • As Malaysia is not a party to the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, also known as the 1951 Refugee Convention. Malaysia has no legal obligation to provide education, work and health for refugees. • The Government has implemented a few administrative policies in managing refugees. The government also acknowledge on the argument that refugees and asylumseekers should be allowed to work, access to education and public health. Some actions have been taken as follows : • In order to provide basic education to this group and to accelerate access to education for all, Malaysia offers Alternative Education Programmes (AEP) which provide access to education for children who do not qualify under the conventional measures of schooling. Through AEP, MOE has allowed other organisations / government agencies / Civil Society Organizations to implement alternative education programmes for these children while being funded and operated outside the regular education system. • Refugees children are allowed access to the private education including Alternative Learning Centre (ALC) provided by UNHCR, NGOs and refugees communities. • MOE also assists in the establishment and registration of alternative learning centre (ALC) by NGOs in accordance with the Education Act 1996. These ALCs provide basic education to refugee children. As of June 2019, there are 13 ALCs established with enrolment of 1,274 children. Paragraph 72 Barring refugees from work or public education creates immense hardship for families that should be under Malaysia’s protection, and robs the country of their economic contributions. The government is reportedly considering permitting refugees to work in certain sectors. One prominent think tank argues that granting refugees the right to work would have a positive impact on the economy and public finances, by increasing their contribution to GDP to more than RM3 billion (US$737 million) over a five year period, creating 4,000 new jobs for Malaysians, and bringing in RM50 (US$12) million in taxes each year by 2024. Granting education to refugees on par with Malaysians could increase their contribution to the GDP to RM 6.5 billion (US$1.59 billion) by 2040 with annual tax revenue of RM 250 million (US$61 million). Comments from the Government of Malaysia: • Based on humanity basis, the government is currently reviewing its policy to allow refugees to work in approved sectors while waiting for their resettlement to a third country or voluntarily return to their country origin. • They are also entitled for medical treatment at any public hospitals/clinics at a 50% discount of a total bill. Stateless people Paragraph 73 The Malaysian government claims not to collect data on statelessness and there are no reliable statistics on the total number of stateless persons in Malaysia. Stateless people are generally unable to access healthcare, education, and formal work. The exclusion of undocumented and stateless families from a wide range of social services elevates their risk of living in poverty, while their absence from official datasets makes the extent of their vulnerability almost impossible to assess. Comments from the Government of Malaysia: • As Malaysia is not a party to the 1954 Convention relating to the status of the Stateless Person and 1961 Convention on The Reduction of Statelessness, Malaysia has no legal obligation to recognize stateless person. • Ministry of health Malaysia provides health services to all including migrants, refugees and stateless people as below: 37