This paper problematizes Malaysia's apparently contradictory policies – harsh immigration rules applied to refugees and asylum seekers on the one hand, and the continued presence and functioning of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on the other hand. It asks how it has been possible to protect and assist refugees and asylum seekers in light of such policies and how such protection and assistance is implemented, justified, and maintained. Giorgio Agamben's concept of the state of exception is employed in analyzing the possibility of refugee protection and assistance amidst an otherwise hostile immigration regime and in understanding the nature of juridical indeterminacy in which refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia inhabit. I also argue that the exception for refugees in Malaysia is a particular kind of exception, that is, a 'humanitarian exception.' Insofar as the state of exception is decided on by the sovereign, in Carl Schmitt's famous formulation, I argue that it is precisely in the application of 'humanitarian exception' for refugees and asylum seekers that the Malaysian state is asserting its sovereignty. As for the protection and assistance to refugees and asylum seekers, it remains an exception to the rule. In other words, it is temporary, partial, and all together insufficient for the preservation of the dignity of refugees and asylum seekers. To make these arguments, the paper begins with a brief history of Malaysia's encounters with refugees and asylum seekers, that is, occasions when 'humanitarian exceptions' were invoked through the issuance of IMM13 permits. Next, it describes Malaysia's current de facto policy towards refugees in the context of mixed migration to provide a picture of the kind of juridical order from which refugees and asylum seekers are at times exempted. Then, it describes the role of the UNHCR in protecting and assisting refugees and asylum seekers through the implementation of a number of informal mechanisms in cooperation with non-government organizations(NGOs) within and through this state of exception. To conclude, the paper offers some preliminary insights on the implications of the foregoing for the evolution of refugee rights in Malaysia.