Cash-Based Interventions in Malaysia

In Malaysia, refugees live in a very challenging environment with limited rights to health, education and work. As the Malaysian government does not provide refugees with any monetary support, refugees depend on low-income work to provide for their families and for themselves.

Cash-based intervention (CBI) seeks to provide protection, assistance and services to the most vulnerable refugees. The program aims to meet a variety of needs, which includes access to food, water, healthcare, shelter and to allow them to build and support livelihoods.

As there are approximately 150,000 refugees in Malaysia, the CBI program is targeted to the most vulnerable PoCs and refugee groups. This includes PoCs whose household income is below the national poverty line, women and girls at risk, children and adolescents at risk and persons with serious medical conditions. Assistance to refugees who have been detained and have not managed to earn sufficient funds during their sentence is also provided. Depending on which level of heightened risk the PoCs are, the amount of financial assistance given and the duration of the CBI ranges.

Having fled their homes, refugees seek to integrate themselves in their local communities and economies. UNHCR’s cash-based intervention program additionally provides refugees with business grants and will further groom them to enhance their entrepreneur skills, in areas such as literacy training and basic numeracy skills.

The CBI process goes through several phases. As there are only a limited amount of PoCs that can be aided, volunteers are need to assess, identify and approve whether the refugees are eligible for financial assistance. Volunteers further disburse cash assistance through home visits. Follow-ups are also conducted by the volunteers via Post-Distribution Monitoring Surveys.