There are about 189,340 refugees and asylum-seekers registered with UNHCR in Malaysia. These are only the ones registered under UNHCR, which means the actual figure is likely much, much higher. And it’s only going to go up in the near future, given the ongoing civil war in Myanmar, genocide in Gaza and conflicts on the rise in various parts of the world.

The question is, what can and should we do about it?

We speak to Dr Melati Nungsari, Associate Professor of Economics and the Deputy Dean of Research, Asia School of Business. Dr Melati has done plenty of research on refugee rights. The Asia School of Business & UNHCR also recently held a conference on Refugee Studies and Forced Displacement.