Marriage and Divorce Among Muslim Refugees Under Shariah Law in Malaysia and Other Muslim Refugee Host Countries: A Scoping Review Focusing on Evidentiary Law and Procedures

Perkahwinan dan Perceraian di Kalangan Pelarian Muslim Mengikut Undang-Undang Syariah Malaysia dan Negara-Negara Muslim: Kajian Skop Undang-Undang Pembuktian dan Prosedur

Abstract

Refugees are granted rights and protection in Islamic law, in addition to international treaties and declarations that bind a particular host country. Since Malaysia is not a signatory to any international convention on refugees, such as the 1951 Refugee Convention or the 1967 Protocol, it has been harboring refugees for many years without any rules or regulations for their protection. The Malaysian Muslim refugee populations are afflicted in many negative ways by the lack of regulations of their marriage and divorce affairs in Malaysia. The administration of Muslim refugees in Malaysia must therefore be reviewed in light of Islamic family law, values, and teachings since Malaysia is a state that upholds Shariah law. The objective of this study is to conduct a scoping exercise into the laws and procedures relating to the administration of marriages and divorces of Muslim refugees in Malaysia and compares them with other laws and procedures in Muslim refugee host countries like Jordan, Turkey and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The focus of the scoping exercise is to investigate gaps and good practices in relation to substantive and procedural issues, particularly in the context of evidentiary proof of marriages and divorces of refugees and the associated implications of such gaps and good practices. This scoping study adopts a qualitative approach using the desk review methodology. The results of this scoping study will be presented together with suitable recommendations for improvements to be made in the area of the management of marriages and divorces of refugees in Malaysia.