Burmese refugees in Malaysia abused, handcuffed, victims of profiteers

Source talks to AsiaNews about visiting a refugee centre, describing its horrors: a hundred people living to a room without blankets to sleep; women humiliated and forced to strip; the canteen selling ordinary items at exorbitant prices; a profiteer who knows “everything about everybody.”

Yangon (AsiaNews) – Hundreds of Burmese are being held in remote Malaysian refugee centres, locked up and handcuffed in prison-like conditions. Relatives and friends are forced to be body searched and registered; unscrupulous merchants sell goods at exorbitant prices; women are abused, humiliated and forced to strip in front of guards. All of the refugees had to flee their homeland to escape abuses by the ruling military junta.

Without papers the refugees are treated like criminals, packed in rooms a hundred at a time without any basic human rights.

One source working for an NGO that is in touch with the refugees spoke to AsiaNews about one such centre, describing its horrors.

“It took us about four hours to reach there,” said the source, who preferred to remain anonymous for security reasons. “It is situated in a very remote area where public transport is not made available. [. . . ] I gave my handset and identity card to the officers whereas my friends gave their passport and handset.”

This was followed by a body check by a female officer, and a statement to a counter officer that included “the name, sex and also body number” of the person visitors wanted to see.

During the “30 minutes” of waiting the source saw episodes indicative of the type of atmosphere that prevails in the centre.

“I saw one of the female detainees walking with a handcuff and that really caught my attention. I was very surprise and upset to see what was going on. I was just thinking to myself, why handcuff a female? How can she escape? Even if she escapes how could she get away because the detention centre is so isolated and far? It doesn't make sense. She is not a criminal. Does she deserve this treatment just because she doesn't have a proper document?

Talking to camp inmate is also prison-like. “We got a chance to speak to the detainees through a phone and see them through a glass,” the source said. “Each one is given an allocated time of approximately 15 minutes.”

“If we wanted to get something for them we had to buy it from the centre’s canteen. I was very surprised by the price of the things: it is so expensive. But we have no choice because we can't bring in goods from outside.”

“When I commented about the price the shop owner said she had to pay RM 5000 for her monthly rent. That is why she has to charge more.”

A man in the canteen offered to sell airplane tickets, at a huge price that varied according to a prisoner’s ethnic background, Burmese or Vietnamese.

“Laughing while quoting” fares, the profiteer said that he was “so experienced that he could tell me how long an inmate had been detained. That shows how much he seems to know things in the centre; he seems to know everyone, from the officers to the detainees.”

“When I told him that prices were too high he told to keep quiet, otherwise prisoners might pays for my remarks.”

The stories refugees had to tell depict a world with harsh rules. Women are forced to “undress and squat”; are “humiliated and embarrassed”; forced to go topless like the men because not allowed to cover themselves.

“There are about 100 people to a room and not everyone has a blanket. Is that how we treat a person” who has fled his or her country without papers?

Lastly, the source launches an appeal on behalf of the refugees, that they not be forgotten: “For those of you out there doing your best to bring light at the end of the tunnel; please continue doing that. I believe the little light that we shine can make a difference. For those of you who are unable to do that, have courage. I believe it would make a big difference in others’ life.” (DS)

Source: AsiaNews.It

Malaysian PM Says Migrants Must Be Turned Back

Source: Mysinchew

HUA HIN, Thailand: Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi urged Southeast Asian nations hit by an influx of boat people from Myanmar to be "firm" and turn back the migrants, a report said Friday.

Abdullah's comments were published in the Bangkok Post a day after human rights groups urged Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders meeting in Thailand this weekend to put the issue at the top of the agenda.

The issue of the Muslim Rohingya refugees has vexed the regional bloc since reports emerged last month alleging that Thailand's army had towed hundreds of them out to sea in barges after they had washed up on Thai beaches.

Many were rescued in Indonesian and Indian waters, but rights groups fear that scores died.

"We have to be very firm in dealing with this situation. If we are not, then all of us will have a problem," Abdullah was quoted as saying.

"We have to turn them back."

Malaysia is one of the main destinations for Rohingyas fleeing poverty and oppression in military-ruled Myanmar, although many of the boat people land in Thailand first and try to cross over by land.

Abdullah said that the issue was causing tensions between ASEAN members and had to be resolved.

"We feel that they are being pushed onto us instead of Thailand accommodating them somehow," he said, adding that many then went on to Indonesia.

"When they come to us of course we know they come from Myanmar. When we ask Myanmar, they ask, 'Are you sure they are our people? What evidence have you got?'"

ASEAN foreign ministers informally discussed the issue for the first time on Thursday at their annual summit in the Thai beach resort of Hua Hin but full talks will not take place until April, an official said.

"There was a discussion on the Rohingyas, that it is a regional issue that would need a regional approach and regional efforts and cooperation to solve this problem," ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan said.

He said they would formally discuss the issue at a meeting of the so-called "Bali Process" regional forum against people-smuggling on April 14-15 on the Indonesian island.

"ASEAN will very much want to help resolve this problem within the framework of the Bali process," Surin, a former Thai foreign minister, told reporters. The meeting was previously due to happen in March.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said in statements on Thursday that the summit must address the rights of refugees and migrants, in particular Myanmar's Rohingya boat people.

Thailand denies mistreating the Rohingya, insisting that they are economic migrants rather than refugees. (AFP)

MySinchew 2009.02.27

UNHCR Asked To Verify Status First Before Issuing Refugee Cards

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 (Bernama) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was on Thursday urged to verify the actual status of people seeking asylum in Malaysia before issuing them refugee cards.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said this was to prevent indiscriminate issuing of refugee status which caused the country to be flooded with foreigners.

"Actually, those eligible to receive the card are political refugees. But the UNHCR likes to issue it to whoever asks for its help, including economic refugees.

"My ministry hopes the UNHCR will evaluate the people seeking refugee status before issuing the cards. We do not want crime and social problems to proliferate here because of the actions of the UNHCR," he told reporters after holding a meeting on the hiring of foreign workers for employers here.

Syed Hamid said this in commenting on the issue of illegal immigrants flooding the country and the crime and social problems that arise as a result.

He also said the UNHCR often faulted the Home Ministry when the authorities took action against UNHCR refugees who committed crimes or broke the country's laws.

"I hope the UNHCR as professional body will act according to the UN Charter.

If there is a problem, its officers can bring it up with my ministry," he said.

Earlier, Syed Hamid said the ministry would hold more frequent meetings with employers on the hiring of foreign labour.

He said he informed then that the freeze on the hiring of foreign workers for the sub sectors of electrical, electronics and textile manufacturing and for the service sub sectors like cargo handling, laundry services, hair salons, goldsmith, retailing, hotel industry, spas and traditional massage and used goods trading, would still be maintained.

He added that since last year, the government had sent back 311,000 foreign workers out of the some two million in the country.

-- BERNAMA

Political prisoners among 6,000 freed in Myanmar

REUTERS

YANGON (Reuters) - Nineteen political prisoners, including allies of pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and five Buddhist monks, have been freed in military-ruled Myanmar as part of a general amnesty, an exile group said on Sunday.

The regime announced the release of over 6,000 inmates on Friday after United Nations human rights rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana ended a five-day visit during which he called for the progressive release of "prisoners of conscience."

On Saturday, 16 political detainees were freed from Yangon's Insein prison and three from a prison in northern Kachin state, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) said on its website www.aappb.org

The Insein group included five Buddhist monks arrested in 2003 and members of Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) and other political groups.

Nobel laureate Suu Kyi, who began her latest detention in May 2003, is among more than 2,000 people jailed in Myanmar for their political or religious beliefs, rights groups say.

The military junta, which has ruled unchecked since 1962, denies the existence of any political prisoners, saying all detainees have committed crimes.

State-owned MRTV said on Friday the prisoners were being released for the "social consideration of their families" and to take part in elections promised for 2010, part of a seven-step "roadmap to democracy."

Western governments dismiss the roadmap as a charade, and human rights groups accuse the regime of seeking to eliminate all political opposition ahead of the election.

Special courts have sentenced scores of dissidents to lengthy prison terms of up to 65 years in recent months.

The most prominent activists have been sent to the furthest corners of the country, making it almost impossible for relatives to deliver food and medicine to them, raising the possibility of the prisoners dying behind bars.

Among those released on Saturday was Thet Wai, an NLD official in Yangon who was sentenced to two years in jail in 2008 for reporting incidents of forced labor to the International Labour Organization (ILO), an NLD spokesman said.

Three other NLD members were freed from Myitkyina Prison in northern Kachin state.

They included Dr. Zaw Myint Maung, an NLD MP elected in the 1990 election that his party won only to see the military ignore the results. He had been in prison since 1991.

(Editing by Darren Schuettler and Sanjeev Miglani)

Myanmar refugees to try resettling

SOURCE: The Japan TIMES

As Japan prepares to take in Myanmarese from Thai refugee camps, it is important that the communities they resettle in fully support their integration into society, experts said at a recent Tokyo symposium held by the Foreign Ministry.

In fiscal 2010, Japan will begin a three-year pilot program to accept 90 refugees residing in Thailand just across the border from junta-ruled Myanmar, becoming the first Asian country to take in refugees living in foreign camps.

Refugees are increasing in number, but their resettlement in third countries is not keeping up with the pace, Mitsuko Shino, a Foreign Ministry director of humanitarian affairs, told the Feb. 5 symposium.

"Japan will take social responsibility by starting this program," she said, adding the project will reflect the viewpoint of the receiving community.

There are currently 110,000 Myanmarese refugees in Thai border camps, which have existed for more than 20 years, but not all of them want to move away. Since the 2005 start of a resettlement program, about 30,000 have been relocated to other countries, mainly the United States as well as Canada and Australia.

Japan plans to select 30 refugees a year from the Mae La camp in Tak Province in northwest Thailand, after interviewing people approved by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

Those chosen will receive three to four weeks of classes on Japanese language and culture and undergo health checks prior to leaving Thailand.

Daniel Alkhal, a representative for UNHCR, which identifies refugees in need of resettlement and assesses their eligibility, praised the quality of the program despite its small scale, and expressed hope that the people selected ultimately gain permanent residence and citizenship in Japan.

"Integration is a psychological process on both sides," said Dominique Collinge, a minister counselor for the Permanent Mission of Canada in Geneva.

Canada has to date taken in 2,600 Myanmarese from Thai refugee camps, according to UNHCR, and grants permanent resident status upon arrival and citizenship after three years. The government runs the Host Program, where native families are coupled with immigrants to share evening entertainment or trips to the supermarket.

"We accept resettlement refugees because they need us, not because we need them," Collinge said, noting refugees bear the responsibility of having to pay back the loan for initial travel and medical costs.

"We tell them you will not be assisted all the time; you will have to work. And they have the pride of reimbursement," he said, noting 90 percent have paid their debt.

According to Irena Vojackova-Sollorano, a regional representative for International Organization for Migration, an intergovernmental agency that oversees part of the resettlement process, refugees from tropical forests may have a hard time adjusting to colder, urban environments, and their education level is varied.

"Some of them have never had monthly salaries, so we practice job interviews with them. We also teach them how to behave on a plane," she said. "But the most important point is that they are very much eager to learn and work."

Upon arriving in Japan, the refugees will reside in specially allocated facilities in the Tokyo metropolitan area. They will receive food and clothes for a week and undertake a six-month assistance program, including language training, employment consultations and help in sending their children to school.

"This is necessary to reach the minimum standard needed to live in Japan," said Hiroshi Karube, director general of the Refugee Assistance Headquarters, a quasi-governmental organization. After the assistance program is completed, the refugees will continue to receive periodic support in various areas.

According to UNHCR, there are 11.4 million refugees worldwide, more than half of them in Asia. About 1 percent are in need of resettlement, with 19 countries currently taking 69,610 a year. Of them, the U.S. takes in 50,000.

Japan has accepted about 11,000 Indochinese refugees since the late 1970s until recently. One who resettled in Japan was Ponnareth Kugo. Born in 1964 in Cambodia, she fled to Thailand during the bloody Pol Pot regime.

"The resettlement country is like a foster parent," said Kugo, who married a Japanese in 1988 and obtained Japanese citizenship. "Refugees do not need sympathy. Their greatest joy is to be treated as equal."

Collinge noted: "It really takes time to make a resettlement refugee program successful. You have to ask the refugees what they want — it must be a dual process. You have to make the refugees love Japan, and you do that by making them feel welcome."

When asked how to increase public support, he replied, "by talking about it, like this."

Three Myanmar refugees brutally stabbed to death in Malaysia

The Star Online

KUALA LUMPUR: Three members of a family, including a mother and her seven-year-old daughter, were brutally stabbed to death in their home in Taman Tasik Permai, Ampang, here yesterday. Police believe robbery may have been the motive.

Tragic loss: The distraught husband weeping outside the house while an unidentified woman carries the one-year-old daughter who was spared by the murderers. – ABDUL RAHMAN SENIN / The Star

The killers, however, spared the woman’s one-year-old daughter, leaving her to cry over her mother’s body.

The other victim was a 22-year-old relative.

The victims, all United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) card holders from Myan­mar, were found by the woman’s husband, also a refugee, when he returned home around 9am after attending religious classes in Sri Petaling.

Ampang Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Abdul Jalil Hassan said all three victims suffered multiple stab wounds.

“The mother, 39, was found dead in the master bedroom while the other two were in the living room,” he said.

He said police recovered a bloody kitchen knife at the back of the house, believed to be the murder weapon.

ACP Abdul Jalil said initial findings revealed that the family, who have been living in the country for the past three years, may have known their assailants.

“There were also signs of a struggle and the back door was forced open.”

ACP Abdul Jalil said that it was possible the killers felt the one-year-old child was too young to identify them, and thus spared her.

“We will try and talk to the child to see what she can reveal to us once she recovers from her ordeal,” he said.

He added that the case was being investigated under Section 302 for murder.

Tough fight against trafficking

The Star Online

Malaysia made a commitment to fight human trafficking with the enactment of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act in 2008 but, as the authorities are discovering, implementing it takes much more hard work.

IT is not an unfamiliar story: A young woman travels to a new country after she is promised a lucrative job. Upon reaching her destination, however, she finds herself forced into prostitution. She begs not to sell her body, but she is verbally abused, beaten and kicked.

When that does not break her, she is told that gangsters would be sent to kill her family. She is then locked up until she “comes to her senses” and does as she is told. Alone in a strange place, her only hope is for the authorities to bust the racket and rescue her.

That was what happened to Lakhsmi (not her real name), 33, who was lured from her home in India with the promise of a maid’s job paying RM300-RM500 by her Malaysian-based Indian agent last year.

Luckily for her, the police busted the prostitution nest and rescued her.

A few months later, in December 2008, her so-called agent, Punitha Raja, 32, became the first person to be convicted under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act 2007.

As the judge who presided over the case in the Sessions Court ruled, the court had to give a message to the public on the seriousness of the offence and efforts taken by the Government to curb such activities.

Lakhsmi was given protection at a secret government-run shelter – established under the act – before she was returned safely home.

Previously, Lakhsmi would have been locked up in jail and charged as a criminal under the Penal Code.

With the gazetting of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act 2007, the authorities have been given the responsibility not only to investigate and apprehend the trafficking criminals in the country but also to save the victims.

International network

Put simply, trafficking in persons is the exploitation of persons for benefit – usually for money. Malaysia drew up its anti-trafficking law with the cooperation of women and human rights groups, Suhakam, Bar Council, the United Nations and the US Senate in 2007.

When it was passed in January 2008, the new law established a Council of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons, which has a secretariat based in the Home Ministry. The council is tasked with drafting an action plan to combat trafficking with specific measures and functions for every agency.

However, as Datuk Ramani Gurusamy, a member of the Council of Trafficking in Persons, explained, “We are doing everything we can to combat trafficking in the country but it is not that easy because it is a complex issue.”

True, the different agencies involved have taken the necessary steps toward fighting the global crime.

Barely two months after the Act came in force, the Immigration Department rescued the first batch of human trafficking victims – 16 foreign nationals – from prostitution rackets in Seremban and Johor Baru.

The police have also set up an Anti-Human Trafficking Unit which identified up to 100 possible victims of human trafficking over the past year.

The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry set up three shelters to protect the rescued victims. At the shelters, the victims are rehabilitated to enable them to return to their homes and assimilate back into society.

These preliminary steps taken by the Malaysian authorities in combating human trafficking have improved Malaysia’s standing in the world.

In the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report 2007, Malaysia moved from Tier Three in 2006 (countries that do not satisfy the minimum standards or demonstrate any effort for compliance) to the Tier Two Watchlist, which indicated that Malaysia was making significant efforts to comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking although it may not have fully done so.

According to the report, Malaysia remains a destination and transit country for both sex and forced labour.

Ramani said it has taken a while to change the focus of the enforcement efforts against trafficking.

“For a long time, human trafficking was given low priority as a serious crime.

So we have to start from scratch, mainly to change the mindset of the enforcement agencies and re-train them.

“But while we are only starting to step up our efforts to eliminate trafficking, the traffickers have gone so far ahead in the game. They have more sophisticated strategies and operational methods as well as up-to-date technology,” she said.

Another problem, she noted, is that the trafficking syndicate has a better network than the various governments involved, so “the cooperation across national borders is still weak.”

Hence, she added, the past year has been spent on developing the capacity of enforcement agencies as well as building stronger cooperation among governments to address the problem.

“We have conducted various training programmes to sensitise the personnel of the different enforcement agencies to the issue and the Act. Each agency has also conducted their own internal training,” said Ramani.

Dent in record

However, all the good efforts of the Malaysian authorities to comply with the international standard in human trafficking were overshadowed by the “slave bondage” cases alleged by a US Senate Committee recently.

According to an AFP report, the US Senate was investigating allegations that officials in Malaysia were extorting money from foreign migrants, including migrant workers, and selling them to human traffickers at the Malaysia-Thai border. These migrants are either smuggled back into the country or sold as forced labour to Malaysian and Thai employers.

It is understood that the case will not affect Malaysia’s position in the TIP rankings. However, sources said what is clear is that the country’s human rights record and credibility as an international force is under threat if the US Senate allegations are not investigated.

It was also revealed that the committee is also investigating whether Malaysian crops and products are harvested or manufactured, in part or wholly, by trafficked or bonded labour. American law prohibits the importation of merchandise produced with forced or bonded labour. Immigration Department director-general Datuk Mahmood Adam gave an assurance that his department was taking the allegations seriously and would investigate the matter.

“We are setting up a task force to look into the matter and take action against anyone found to be involved in human trafficking activities as alleged,” he said recently.

Those with evidence of immigration officials abusing the system have been asked to step forward. It is understood that the ministry has also held a meeting with representatives from the Senate Committee.

More work needed

Aegile Fernandez, coordinator of the anti-trafficking in persons at Tenaganita, said that although the Government has taken a positive step forward in enforcing the Act, the implementation of support mechanisms and policies for the victims of human trafficking is still wanting. There is a strong need for continued and extensive training of the enforcement agencies in identifying and questioning victims of human trafficking, she stressed.

“More work is needed in sensitising immigration enforcement officials and police on the issue. They are the first point of contact for these people in dire situations and, as such, should not see these people purely as violators of the law but as victims of exploitation by their employers.”

Fernandez also alleged that many enforcement officers lack the proper questioning skills to identify trafficking victims.

“Many do not understand the situation they come from and their fear, so they usually cannot get through to the victims.”

As Human Rights lawyer Latheefa Koya highlighted, many enforcement agencies are arresting victims because they do not have proper documentation.

“Under our Immigration Laws, it is illegal to be without proper documentation in the country. But if you are taken from your home and sold to a prostitution syndicate, you will not have proper documentation. In Malaysia, it is also a normal practice for employers to hold their migrant workers’ papers, so it complicates investigations. That is why the Bar Council has proposed for a review of the Immigration Laws to comply with the new Act,” she said.

Ramani, however, said that the council has taken various measures to train the enforcement officers on how to question and identify trafficking victims.

Links with the victim’s families and non-governmental organisations (NGO) in their country of origin are also being established to prevent any possibility of a return to trafficking operations, she said.

What is clear, however, is that Malaysia needs to step up its efforts to improve its anti-human-trafficking record.

Former Ambassador-at-Large and Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons Mark P. Logan had stated in one of his awareness raising talks that: “There is a pattern of countries that move up in the rankings of our annual report when they pass comprehensive legislation to fight human trafficking.

“Very often focusing on the legislation is like focusing on a wedding ceremony and not on the hard work of marriage that follows. Often a country falls down on its ranking a few years later because their limitation falls.”

Prague welcomes Burmese refugees

Source: Actualne.cz

Prague - A group of sixteen Burma refugees arrived in cold Prague Thursday morning. Dressed warmly to face the 30 degree drop of temperature between Malaysia and Prague, they said that they were happy to be here and looking forward to joining their friends who arrived a few months earlier.

Last October saw 23 Burmese refugees arrive in the country. They came as part of the refugee resettlement program that the Czech government adopted in June 2008.

The Czechs thus joined the international communities in "solving the global refugee problems not only at a national level but also in the international context", as said by the interior ministry's spokesperson Jana Malíková.

Strong motivation

The Burmese refugees who have been assigned an "asylum status" are put in an integration centre where they attend integration courses, such as Czech language and basic information

about the country. According to Marta Miklušáková from Prague's UNHCR all the refugees in the first group are doing fine.

"They are slowly learning how to speak Czech," said Miklušáková. After they finish the integration program, they will start living among Czechs. Towns that cooperate with the interior ministry on integration programs will find "integration apartments" for them, which the refugees will have to pay for themselves.

"They will have to find a job, which may not be easy but they are strongly motivated," Sabe Soe of Burmese Centre Praha told Aktuálně.cz.

Brand new life

Not fearing lack of jobs for the Burmese refugees amid the economic crisis, Miklušáková agrees with the strong motivation factor. "They went through horrible things and they are motivated very much to integrate in the Czech society," added Miklušáková.

All the Burmese refugees come from Chin State which is located in the north-west of Burma. The Chin are of Sino-Tibetan race and they practice Christianity. They fled Burma for Malaysia, a popular destination for Burmese refugees. However, Malaysia does not recognise the status of refugee and therefore does not guarantee the fundamental human, social, cultural and economic rights.

Among the new arrivals were two small babies who will start a brand new life in the Czech Republic. "We are very much looking forward to give our babies the opportunity to have a new life in a safe and friendly place", their mothers said

Malaysia under fire at UN over refugees

AFP news

GENEVA (AFP) — Malaysia was taken to task by some Western countries on Wednesday over its treatment of asylum seekers and refugees, during a United Nations review of its human rights record.

Belgium, Britain and the Netherlands were among the nations that expressed "concerns" surrounding refugees and asylum-seekers held in detention in Malaysia, as they called on Kuala Lumpur to develop legislation that distinguishes asylum seekers from irregular migrants.

"We note serious problems faced by refugees, migrants and asylum seekers in Malaysia... that is linked to a lack of clarity on their status in the country," Belgium's representative told the UN Human Rights Council during a universal periodic review session.

Under universal periodic review, all 192 member states of the United Nations have their human rights record vetted by the council once every four years.

The session is based on three reports, one submitted by the country under review, and two summaries compiled by the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights.

The high commissioner's report noted the lack of national legislation on refugees as well as absence of laws on the rights of migrant workers.

In addition, it said, "many asylum seeking and refugee children, among them Muslim children from a nearby country, including the Rohingya refugee children who had lived in Malaysia since 1990s, lacked access to formal education."

The secretary general of Malaysia's foreign ministry Rastam Mohd Isa said in his opening remarks that Malaysia prosecutes only refugees who have committed crimes.

Foreign workers are accorded the same rights as local workers, and the rights of illegal immigrants are protected, he added.

Human rights groups have accused Malaysia of mistreating millions of foreign workers who live there, as well as asylum-seekers, including thousands from nearby Myanmar, which is under military rule.

Human Rights Watch had singled out a government-backed volunteer force in Malaysia known as RELA for allegedly beating, threatening and extorting money from migrants and asylum-seekers.

During Wednesday's session, some countries, including Chile and France, encouraged Malaysia to eliminate discrimination due to sexual orientation and to "respect the human rights of all individuals, including homosexuals."

Modern-day slave trade?

The Star Online

US allegations that Malaysian immigration officials are involved in human trafficking have been refuted by the Government. But how baseless really are their claims?

IF you can prove the cases to us, we will investigate.” Former Immigration enforcement director Datuk Ishak Mohamed countered when broached with the issue of possible human trafficking activities by our immigration personnel at the Malaysia-Thai border last year.

Recently, the same concern was highlighted, this time by a US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and again it drew the same reaction from the authorities.

As reported by the AFP, the US Senate is investigating allegations that Malaysian law enforcement officials are extorting money from foreign migrants and selling them off at the Malaysia-Thai border.

The migrants – mostly from Myanmar – are allegedly taken by the officials from government-run detention centres to the border, where money is demanded from them.

If they cannot pay up, they are turned over to human traffickers in southern Thailand. According to US officials, Senate foreign relations committee staff have travelled to Malaysia, Thailand and to the border to collect information as part of their investigations.

However, Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar has dismissed the claims as “wild accusations”.

“I take offence with the allegation because neither the Malaysian Government nor its officials make money by selling people.

“We detain them because they are illegals who must be sent home. We take care of their needs. We don’t hold them at depots and sell them away,” he was quoted as saying.

Bound for home: As it is against international law to return migrants from Myanmar back to their country, Malaysia hands them over to the Thai authorities who then leave them at the Thai-Myanmar border.

Bound for home: As it is against international law to return migrants from Myanmar back to their country, Malaysia hands them over to the Thai authorities who then leave them at the Thai-Myanmar border. – Picture courtesy of UNHCR.

Immigration Department director-general Datuk Mahmood Adam also refuted the claims that his officers were involved in the illegal activity.

“These claims are new to us. This is the first time that we have heard of this happening. We will take the necessary measures to investigate the matter,” he told the media.

But if feedback from non-governmental organisations working with migrants, human rights activists and the migrant community is to be reckoned, it appears that the Malaysian authorities are the only ones still in the dark about the matter.

As the Bar Council’s human rights committee member, Renuka T. Balasubramaniam, puts it, “It has been common knowledge for so long.”

According to Alice Nah of the Migration Working Group, multiple attempts have been made to alert the Malaysian government about the “sale” of migrants and refugees, which is prohibited under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act 2007.

“We have received various testimonies from victims which basically tell of the same experience. We have also gathered other evidence from different, credible sources. But when we report the cases to the authorities, they keep ignoring and denying them,” she says.

Human rights lawyer Latheefa Koya concurs.

“I have interviewed about 50 victims who related the same things. Don’t their testimonies count? It is the responsibility of the authorities to look into it,” she says, adding that over the past year, national and international human rights groups have also reported such accounts of trafficking.

No man’s land

Nah agrees that it is time the authorities take the issue seriously. Ignoring it is akin to being complicit to the crime, she stresses.

So what is really happening at the border?

“At the border is this strip of no man’s land. This is where this insidious operation goes on,” says Aegile Fernandez, coordinator of the anti-trafficking of persons at Tenaganita.

“Usually, Malaysian authorities will take the illegal immigrants who are to be deported to the border. Once there, they enter this no man’s land and they will be arrested if they try to enter either side of the border. Here, they become susceptible to the trafficking syndicates as many, especially those from Myanmar, are desperate to escape from being sent home,” says Fernandez, who first came across such cases about four years ago.

The fear was clear in Rahman, a 40-something Myanmarese refugee of Rohingya descent, as he recalled his experience at the border more than five years ago.

“I was caught in one of the raids and detained at the Semenyih detention centre for a few months. Then they sent me to the border with seven other prisoners. We were escorted by immigration officers and handcuffed all the way in the van.

“When we got to the Rantau Panjang/Sungai Golok border, they kept us at a secret place in the jungle near the border.”

At the border, there were “agents” who gave them mobile phones and told them to contact their family or friends to pay money for their release.

“At that time, they told me to ask my family to deposit RM1,200 into a specific bank account. When I told them my family had no money, they beat me up. When they realised that I was telling the truth, they told me that they would sell me to work on fishing boats.”

“I knew my only choice was to run away, so when I got the chance I ran for my life.”

Having been in Malaysia for more than 10 years at that time, Rahman was fluent in Bahasa Malaysia, so he pretended to be Malaysian.

“The guard at the border just waved me in. I had no money on me, so to get back to Kuala Lumpur, I smuggled myself onto the train. I had to jump off when the ticket officer nearly caught me but then I stole a ride on another train.”

When asked why going back to Myanmar was out of the question for him, he shudders and replies:

“We (the Rohingyas) are not recognised in Myanmar. If we go back, we will be tortured and killed. So I’d rather risk it in Malaysia.”

Other migrants relate similar experiences. Once the money is deposited, they are packed into cars and driven to designated locations in Malaysia where they are released.

A few have to endure rides in the boot of the car all the way from the border to Kuala Lumpur. Those who are unable to pay are sold – men into forced labour on trawler ships or plantations, and women to brothels.

It has been revealed that the “ransom” has gone up over the years and currenly ranges between RM1,400 and RM2,500.

“Someone asked why we have to pay so much. He was told that it includes the commission for the immigration officials,” says Rahman.

One 17-year-old migrant boy who declined to be named said he was sold to a fishing boat last year. He had to work without pay for more than six months before he was sold off to another fishing trawler in Sabah. After a few months of hard labour without pay, he took his chance to jump ship when it came to shore.

A worker with an aid group for refugees, who only wants to be known as Ustad Mohamad, says the number of those killed because they were not able to cough up the money are still unaccounted for.

“I once received a phone call from this so-called agent who demanded money for an orphaned Rohingya boy I was helping. He was caught in a raid and sent to the detention centre.

“We couldn’t trace him until that phone call. I am from Rantau Panjang, so I went there to deal with them. I was too late. When I got there he had been beaten to death. They found out that he had no relatives to pay his ransom, so they just beat him.”

What one Myanmarese refugee of Chin ethnicity related was more distressing.

Kennedy, as he prefers to be known, said his brother went through the same experience when he was in Malaysia almost 20 years ago.

“He was detained for not having any papers and after a few months of detention in one of the centres, he was taken to the border for deportation.

“There, he was sold to a fishing boat because there was no one who could pay the agents. He was forced to work long hours without pay. If he protested, he would be beaten up and tortured.

“He said the bosses also threatened to shoot him or throw him overboard if he protested. “He suffered for many months until he finally made his escape.

“Now he has been resettled in the United States but the experience is still horrifying for him,” says Kennedy.

Getting to the root

Fernandez claims that from the testimonies of the victims, the transactions are a systematic practice.

She says in reality, there is a lot of corruption with the enforcers on both sides of the borders, adding that this has been admitted at many regional meetings.”

“Our border control is also lax. We have observed the border controls and have seen for ourselves traffickers lurking under the bridge or in boats on the Golok River.

“I have sat there by the border to see how easy it is to go through our borders; sometimes people just have to wave and they are flagged past,” she adds.

Fernandez says Malaysia needs to tighten its porous borders.

“We have spent a lot on so-called technology to upgrade our immigration checks, so why can’t we use it to control our borders?” she asks.

Another much-needed change is Malaysia’s attitude towards refugees and migrants, she says.

“The authorities feel that if these people are willing to pay, then they are not victims. The authorities need to understand the conditions some of these people are running from,” she says.

Echoing her, Renuka highlights that exploited migrant workers also need protection.

“Human trafficking does not only involve women who are trafficked as sex slaves.

“The migrant workers brought into Malaysia usually pay a lot of money to come work here and most of the time all their salary goes towards repaying their debt, which puts them under a debt bondage.

“This makes them vulnerable because they can’t get out of the situation. So they are victims of trafficking too, but the Malaysian government refuses to count them as victims,” she laments.

Nah strongly believes that the current approach in handling of irregular migrants in Malaysia needs to be reviewed as it has resulted in severe human rights abuses.

“First, we must stop the raids. Then we need to review the procedures for detention and deportation. Ironically, it is precisely Malaysia’s imbalanced migration policies and procedures that have contributed to the growth of irregular migrants,” she opines.

She says streamlining procedures for the recruitment and regularisation of migrants and refugees, would help to stem the smuggling and trafficking industry.

A source from the Home Ministry is also of the view that some of Malaysia’s immigration practices might have unintentionally facilitated trafficking activities at the borders.

“For example, as it is against the international law to return the migrants from Myanmar back to their country, what Malaysia does is to send them to the Thai border and pass them on to the Thai authorities, who will take them to the Thai-Myanmar border and leave them there.

“We did it through a special agreement with the Thailand government but that agreement was dissolved in 2007, so what Malaysia is doing now is to just dump them over the Malaysian borders.”

Fernandez hopes that the authorities will probe into the allegations.

As Malaysia passed the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act in 2007, it needs to start enforcing the law more rigorously, she says.

Renuka concurs, adding that ignoring and denying reports of the crime from credible sources does not help solve the problem.

“We need to seriously heed these reports so that Malaysia can combat trafficking in the country and region effectively.”

Next week: Sunday Star looks at Malaysia’s effort in the fight against human trafficking after introducing the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act in 2007.

Burma's policy debate: polarisation and paralysis

ReliefWeb

Burma is one of the world's worst human tragedies. A beautiful nation, with talented people, rich in natural resources, it was once "the rice bowl of Asia". Today, it is one of the poorest countries in the world, ruled by a regime which does not just brutally suppress its people politically, but callously denies them humanitarian aid. The junta spends almost half its budget on the military, and less than $1 per person per year on health and education combined. The world witnessed the regime's astonishing refusal, and subsequent restriction, diversion and manipulation, of aid and access for aid workers following Cyclone Nargis. A similar pattern of criminal neglect is currently played out in Chin State, where a famine caused by a plague of rats has gone largely unreported and unaided.

In addition, the military regime is guilty of every possible violation of human rights. The junta has imprisoned more than 2,000 dissidents, and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has spent over 13 years under house arrest. A campaign of ethnic cleansing, amounting to crimes against humanity and bordering on a form of genocide, is being conducted against the Karen, Karenni and Shan in eastern Burma, and gross violations continue in Chin, Kachin and Rakhine areas. The Rohingya Muslim people are targeted for ethnic and religious persecution, and denied citizenship despite having lived in northern Arakan for generations.

One would think that the scale of the crisis in Burma would cause people, within the country and in the international community, to put aside petty differences and unite. But instead, Burma's tragedy is compounded by the intensely polarised nature of the debate about Burma. This polarisation has led to a paralysis – giving the regime the upper hand. Its biggest strategy is divide-and-rule, and it has played it to great effect at every level. Small divisions between Burmese activists become huge rifts; petty squabbles among factions within each ethnic group have been widened by the regime, in some cases causing groups to fragment and some to do deals with the junta; and among the international community, the debate about sanctions versus engagement grows ever more weary.

It is not for me to comment more on the divisions within the Burmese and ethnic movements, except simply to observe that disunity are a problem. If the different Burmese groups could recognise that what they have in common, their desire for freedom, is infinitely more important than the small policy differences or personal rivalries they may have, then they will be much the stronger for it. If they had one umbrella group, instead of multiple alliances, their cause would be advanced. But it is the international debate that concerns me here.

Critics of sanctions are rearing their heads again in a significant way, and it is tiresome. It seems bizarre that after two of the worst years in Burma's recent history, some people are seriously proposing lifting sanctions. The regime put its character on full display when it beat and shot Buddhist monks peacefully demonstrating in September 2007. Its sham referendum on a new constitution last May was so blatant it was laughable. Its initial response to Cyclone Nargis – a failure to prepare people before the cyclone hit, and a deliberate denial and diversion of aid afterwards – should not be forgotten. And before the end of last year, several hundred dissidents were jailed, some for more than 65 years. Yet there are voices within the UN, NGOs and academia who say now is the time to end international pressure, normalise relations with the regime and legitimise the planned elections in 2010.

Advocates of sanctions such as myself have however not always got it right either. There has been an almost religious affiliation to sanctions, and a refusal to hear criticism. Sanctions have become a litmus test of devotion to democracy. Advocates of sanctions have tended to demonise opponents. I admit that this is wrong. While there are some critics of sanctions who have aligned themselves so much with the junta that they are not credible, there are some who cannot be easily dismissed as pro-regime. Some whose credentials in fighting for democracy are well-proven are starting to question the effectiveness of sanctions. Those of us who continue to believe in sanctions should listen to such people, and seek to find common ground.

I do not buy the argument that sanctions have not worked. It is too simplistic. It depends totally on what our definition of effectiveness is, and what timeframe we are working to. While we can agree on the obvious – that the current sanctions regime have not yet delivered the change we would like to see – there are several points to make. The first is that many of the sanctions in place are the wrong ones. I have always advocated targeted sanctions, aimed at the Generals and their assets. But it is only in the past year that the US has introduced targeted financial sanctions, and the European Union placed a ban on the gems and timber sectors. Until 2007, the sanctions in place were either too broad, or too symbolic. The EU banned investment in a pineapple juice factory, but continues to allow money to flow into the oil and gas sectors. But the junta is built on oil and gas, not fruit juice. And critics claim we have had 20 years of sanctions – but in reality, the only really tough sanctions were introduced in the past ten years, and particularly since 2003. So they need more time to work. Thirdly, sanctions are only one tool in the toolbox anyway. No advocate of sanctions that I know has ever suggested that sanctions alone will change the situation. They are an important ingredient in the policy mix – but they need to be used alongside other methods.

Two myths about the pro-sanctions lobby continue to be put about the critics, both of which are misrepresentative and deeply destructive. The first is that they frame the debate as one of engagement versus isolation, and they describe themselves as 'pro-engagement'. But this is totally misleading. I am pro-engagement too. The objective is not the isolate the regime, but rather to draw it out and force it to enter dialogue. Pressure is the only language the regime understands. The idea that investment will open things up is not only naïve, it has been tried. Britain held trade fairs in Rangoon in the 1990s, and that did not seem to make the regime any nicer. No one I know wants to isolate the regime, and it is pro-sanctions campaigners who have led calls for the UN Secretary-General and Security Council to get involved, and the process recommended is all about engagement. So it is not a debate about whether to engage, but rather about what type of engagement – how, when, about what and with whom should we engage. The second myth is that we oppose aid. This is manifest nonsense, but it continues to be put about. No one campaigned harder for increased aid to Burma by Britain's Department for International Development (DfID) than my own organisation, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, and the Burma Campaign UK. Our efforts resulted in pressure on DfID by the House of Commons to increase its Burma budget. It was DfID officials, backed up by so-called pro-engagement types, who actually resisted it. They did not want to increase the Burma budget. Ultimately, DfID responded to political pressure and doubled the budget. We campaigned both for in-country aid and cross-border aid to the displaced people. So please, don't tell me I am anti-aid. Like engagement, the debate is not about whether to provide aid, but how.

If the critics of sanctions agree to stop spreading such misperceptions, and advocates of sanctions cease demonising their opponents, there are still three remaining questions. Some of the most naïve critics of sanctions propose actually lifting them now, regardless of whether the regime offers any sign of progress. They portray themselves as bold fresh thinkers, but such an approach is sheer folly. To lift sanctions now, unconditionally, would send the regime the worst possible signal. The regime will have won, and they can have their rule – and their legitimacy internationally – sewn up. So I am vigorously opposed to such an approach. But more sensible critics of sanctions argue we should review specific measures, and question their effectiveness. I have an open mind on this. While I am totally opposed to lifting sanctions as a whole, there is merit in looking at each measure and asking how they could be improved. A debate about improving, sharpening, strengthening and more carefully targeting sanctions would be healthy. We might even find some areas of agreement between the two sides in the polarised debate. But we should ensure that such a debate is not timeless. A debate, within a specific timeframe, about how to sharpen sanctions must lead to an outcome. It should not result in a continuation of the current exhausting, pointless and endless debate that achieves nothing except further entrenchment and polarisation. And once the debate has been had, the issue should be parked and we should seek other creative means of bringing about change in Burma in addition to sanctions. Critics of sanctions should agree to stop dredging the issue up again and again, and advocates of sanctions might agree – provided we succeed in obtaining sharper, targeted, effective measures in place – to channel their energies into seeking other solutions. In fact, that is what sanctions advocates have already been doing, but their critics keep popping up with the sanctions debate. It is becoming an unhealthy distraction and consumes far too much emotional energy.

It will not be easy, but both sides in this debate need to move out of their respective camps. If we cannot engage with each other, how are we to have a hope of seeing the regime engage? There are voices on the fringes of both camps who deserve little respect and should be ignored. There are some with vested interests or outdated experience who are now irrelevant. But there are others who may disagree over certain approaches, but who should be treated more seriously. Common ground should be sought, and perhaps a division of labour agreed. There are individuals who have a particular role to play in, for example, quiet diplomacy with Asian neighbours, strengthening ethnic unity or building civil society, and they should not be written off. However, they do themselves no favours when they spend their time undermining the efforts of campaigners by vocally and publicly opposing not only sanctions, but any form of international pressure in defeatist tones. If such people were to focus on what they are good at, and keep their reservations about international pressure to themselves, they would earn much more respect. Similarly, if those of us who advocate pressure recognised more explicitly the value of other approaches, particularly in building civil society, strengthening ethnic unity and in lobbying countries in the region, we would advance the cause further.

There is in my mind no contradiction at all between pressure and engagement. If properly coordinated, they are two sides of the same coin. This was outlined in a paper published by The Burma Campaign UK a few years ago, called "Pro-Aid, Pro-Sanctions, Pro-Engagement". Our critics should read that paper, we should seek to understand our more sensible critics, and together we can try to break the paralysis that has come from the polarisation of the debate. Only when we combine our efforts, diverse but coordinated and complementary, will we have any chance of seeing change in Burma.

Benedict Rogers is a human rights activist working for Christian Solidarity Worldwide, which recently launched the Change for Burma! campaign. He is the author of 'A Land Without Evil: Stopping the Genocide of Burma's Karen people (Monarch Books, 2004). He has travelled 28 times to Burma and its borderlands, and is currently writing two new books on Burma.

Malaysian Immigration Involvement in Human Trafficking

The Star Online Citizen's Blog

It is to my personal hope that the US will be able to prove that the Malaysian Immigration personnels are involved in human trafficking. Although I do not approve of illegal immigrants in Malaysia, but the alleged modus operandi of the Malaysian Immigration is deliberate in nature to allow the abuse of subsequently detained illegal immigrants.

A lot of people seems to know what's going on in detention camps - the various abuses and rapes - but it would seem that only former Immigration enforcement director Datuk Ishak Mohamed and Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar seems not to know anything about it.

So, once again - the hypocrisy of the Malaysian Government is exposed big time. They talk about aiding the people from certain countries but right in our own country, fellow human beings are being treated like slaves for monetary purposes.

If you guys are wondering why so many illegal immigrants make their way so easily into this country, then perhaps you should consider this :

[1] Illegal immigrant uses fake passport at checkpoint. Immigration officer knows passport is fake but allows entry. Illegal immigrant thinks that he's cleared and proceeds to whatever purpose he came for - mostly working for Malaysian employees, thinking that his passport would be "good" enough.Multiply this practice by the thousands.

[2] Police or Immigration Department conducts illegal immigrants raid. Those who thought they had "good" passports will now be arrested . This fulfills the "work quota" of policemen and Immigration Dept - showing they have been "doing their job". Immigration Dept uses the statistics of increasing illegal immigrants arrested to pursue for bigger funding from the Govt - a simple check of assets will reveal how rich the Immigration Dept is. At the same time, illegal immigrants are sent to detention camps where abuses takes place.

[3] Deals are set up with syndicates for human trafficking. Illegal immigrants are sold for about RM 400 each and sent to the border under the guise of deportation. In this no-man's land, no one in the world except the syndicates and corrupted immigration officers would know the existence of all those human slaves. Unfortunately for the illegal immigrants, even the Govt of their own countries do not want them. So, with the thousands of illegal immigrants in this country, this is a trade that could easily feed the corrupted immigration officers with hundred thousands of dollars. I DARE THE ACA TO CHECK THE ASSETS OF ALL THE IMMIGRATION OFFICERS - you're going to find a lot of them have wives that drives large Toyata models while their husbands goes to work in run-down Proton models.

So, it is my hope that the US will be able to prove to the rest of the world the hypocrisy of the Malaysian Govt. When it has done that, I will call for our Home Minister to be charged with crimes against humanity.

Amnesty To Help Solve Unemployment Problem

BERNAMA News

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 6 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) today called on the government to declare a general amnesty for illegal immigrant workers as part of its solution to reduce foreigners in the local job market.

Currently there are about 1.2 million illegal foreign workers competing for the same jobs with Malaysians.

MTUC vice-president K. Balasubramaniam told Bernama that an amnesty would be a win-win solution because it would benefit both the foreign and local workers.

"Thousands of illegal foreigners want to go back to their country of origin but are afraid that they may be detained by the authorities because many of them have no proper travel documents.

"If there is an amnesty, these workers can get a reprieve and be sent home without any penalty. And once they leave, jobless Malaysians will have the opportunity to fill the vacancies," he said.

Amnesty is nothing new to Malaysia as the government had declared one for illegals in 2004. The amnesty from Oct 29 2004 to Jan 31 2005 was successful in that almost 400,000 illegal immigrants were repatriated.

Balasubramaniam was confident that an amnesty during this economic downturn would also yield results.

He said that, as in the previous amnesty, all costs of repatriation should be borne either by the workers, their employers or their country of origin.

The MTUC was willing to cooperate with the authorities to ensure an orderly exercise.The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF), however, is not very keen on the idea.

"We feel that an amnesty would encourage more illegals to come to Malaysia, knowing that they could get a reprieve if they overstayed or came in without any legal documents," said its executive director, Haji Shamsuddin Bardan.

A better solution would be to tighten security at all entry points to ensure that no one sneaked into the country.

He said the private sector was heeding the government's directive to employ Malaysians first unless there were no locals available for the job.

Meanwhile, Director-General of Immigration Datuk Mahmood Adam said amnesty was a policy decision of the cabinet acting on the advice of the Home Ministry.

"As far as my department is concerned, it will only carry out and implement the directives of the ministry and ensure a proper repatriation of the foreigners." he said, adding that the department was continuing its routine checks to flush out illegal immigrants.

On the compounding of passports of certain Malaysians, he said that so far the department had blacklisted 15,000 passport holders and they could not leave the country without permission.

The ban was imposed for various reasons, like not settling their income tax, legal cases and custody disputes.

Passport holders could check their status via the department's website: www.imi.gov.my.

To protect the confidentially, the reasons for the ban were not disclosed on the website but those affected could call any of the immigration offices for details, he added.

Angelina Jolie voices support for Myanmar refugees in northern Thailand camps

UNHCR News

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie shares a laugh with Karenni refugee children in Ban Mai Nai Soi camp. © UNHCR/K.McKinsey

BAN MAI NAI SOI REFUGEE CAMP, Thailand, February 5 (UNHCR) – UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie has called on the Thai government to grant Myanmar refugees in northern Thailand greater freedom of movement, after spending a day listening to refugees tell of the difficulties they have faced in two decades of living in closed camps.

"I was saddened to meet a 21-year-old woman who was born in a refugee camp, who has never even been out of the camp and is now raising her own child in a camp," Jolie said after her visit Wednesday to Ban Mai Nai Soi camp, home to 18,111 mainly Karenni registered refugees, just three kms from the Myanmar border, near Mae Hong Son.

"With no foreseeable chance that these refugees will soon be able to return to Burma (Myanmar), we must find some way to help them work and become self reliant," she said.

The 111,000 registered refugees who live in nine camps in northern Thailand along the Thai-Myanmar border are not allowed to venture outside the camps to work or receive higher education.

In a thatched two-room house on stilts, Jolie sat down on the floor and chatted with refugee Ma Pai, a 44-year-old minority ethnic Kayan woman who has applied for resettlement to the United States.

At a boarding school for orphans and children separated from their parents, Jolie listened attentively as two teenage girls – sent across the border to the refugee camp by their parents for education – told of their fears that they might have to go back to Myanmar when they finish their schooling.

"I hope we can work with the Thai authorities to speed up the government admissions process and that you will not be forced to go back to Burma if danger remains," Jolie said.

The Thai government's Provincial Admissions Board, the only body that can grant refugee status to people fleeing fighting or persecution in Myanmar, has yet to process some 5,000 people who arrived in Mae Hong Son province in 2006 and 2007, the last time there was significant fighting in Kayah State just across the border. Throughout last year, people continued to trickle into Ban Mai Nai Soi and three other camps in the province, mostly fleeing forced labour and other human rights abuses.

One 26-year-old woman, Pan Sein, told Jolie she fled her village in Kayah State last November, and took a circuitous, hazardous journey on foot that finally brought her to the camp at the beginning of January.

"Weren't you scared to leave your parents and come on your own?" Jolie asked.

"Yes, I was scared," Pan Sein replied. "It was dangerous to flee, but even more dangerous to stay in my village."

Jolie's visit came at a time of worldwide attention to the large numbers of Rohingya migrants fleeing Myanmar's northern Rakhine state in rickety boats, and just after UNHCR gained access to 78 Rohingya boat people in detention in Ranong in southern Thailand.

"Visiting Ban Mai Nai Soi and seeing how hospitable Thailand has been to 111,000 mostly Karen and Karenni refugees over the years makes me hope that Thailand will be just as generous to the Rohingya refugees who are now arriving on their shores," Jolie said.

"I also hope the Rohingya situation stabilizes and their life in Myanmar improves so the people do not feel the desperate need to flee, especially considering how dangerous their journey has become," she added.

"As with all people, they deserve to have their human rights respected."

By

Kitty McKinsey

In Ban Mai Nai Soi Camp

Foreigners moonlight in shops

NST Online

BUTTERWORTH: A growing number of foreign workers, particularly in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors, are working illegally in restaurants, mini-markets, second-hand stores, boutiques, spice and cosmetic shops and money changing businesses.

Most are from Myanmar and Bangladesh, and so far they have evaded the long arm of the law. They work in areas with a large number of foreign workers, or in small and medium-sized industries.

These include nine restaurants in Kampung Main Road and Jalan Baru, as well as in Prai, Juru, Alma and Permatang Tinggi.

Seberang Prai municipal councillor M. Ramachandran raised the issue at last week's council meeting.

"Most of these areas have already been converted into foreign worker colonies," he said..

Ramachandran said allowing foreign workers to run restaurants could lead to the spread of contagious diseases as they were not screened by the Health Department and they had not attended courses on hygiene and healthy food preparation.

It can also lead to social problems within the local community, he said, addng that the police and Immigration Department should take action immediately.

Another councillor, who declined to be named, claimed there were several outlets operated by foreigners at a major shopping complex in Bukit Mertajam.

Learning haven for Chin refugee children in Malaysia

The Star Online

This is a school without desks or chairs, but the students are only too happy to have access to some form of education

WALK down one of the rubbish-strewn lanes in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, and you will come across the narrow entrance to a nondescript flat. Just minutes away are some of the glitziest malls in the city, but here, the atmosphere couldn’t be more different.

Small, messy stalls line the lane, and the people walking around, going about their daily business, look distinctly non-local.

Pretty picture: A young refugee from Myanmar of Chin origin sitting in her class at a flat in Kuala Lumpur.

Inside the building, the stairwell is dim, grubby, and rather dank. Climb up three flights of stairs and you will arrive at a cramped unit. Clothes-lines hang right outside the flat’s narrow corridor, aflutter with the day’s washing. With its shabby walls and linoleum-lined floors, this unit looks no different from any of the others in the building.

Except for the large group of laughing, chattering children sitting inside. Their eyes are on an adult who is pointing to a whiteboard and speaking loudly. Surrounding them are piles of books and stationery; more sit on the bookshelves lining one side of the room.

Hand-drawn posters and educational charts liven up the plain walls, and two computers sit in a corner. These children are Myanmar refugees of Chin ethnicity, forced to flee to Malaysia to escape religious persecution and human rights violations.

Silver lining: Young refugees hanging out outside their flat units on the same floor where they attend classes. These classes are not only a way for them to obtain some form of learning, but also prepare them for the future that awaits them if and when they are resettled.

The children do not wear uniforms, there are no desks or chairs, and classrooms are simply different units on the same floor. Yet, for the 150 students who study here daily, this little flat is the closest thing to a school they have in Malaysia. More significantly, it is their only hope for some form of education as they wait for a solution to their problems.

The Chins, who hail from the Chin State in western Myanmar, are one of eight major ethnic groups in the conflict-ridden country. The majority of the Chins are Christians. Like other communities in the Buddhist-majority nation, many Chins have been fleeing their homeland to escape the harsh living conditions under the present military government.

Simple but essential: Refugees from Myanmar attending a class at a flat in Kuala Lumpur. The school’s semester is from January to early December and classes are held from 10am to 2pm, Monday to Friday. – Reuters / Bazuki Muhmmad (Malaysia)

As of November last year, there are some 44,000 refugees and asylum seekers registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Malaysia. Of these, 39,000 are from Myanmar. The Chins make up 14,300 or 37%, of that number.

As Malaysia did not sign the 1951 Refugee Convention, refugees are not allowed to settle here permanently. They can be here on a temporary basis, waiting either for resettlement by the UNHCR, or for the unrest in their home countries to be resolved. The refugees’ uncertain status, however, creates a host of complications.

They are not able to get formal employment, which leaves them not only struggling for money, but also open to exploitation by unscrupulous employers. Many of them cannot even afford the healthcare available at government hospitals and clinics. Refugee children are also not able to attend government schools, and most of them cannot afford private education.

Mark this: Young refugees checking their exam results.

This is where schools such as the one described above play a key role. Supported by local NGO Malaysian Care and UNHCR, this school is one of six that are scattered in various locations in the Klang Valley. The classes are run by the Chin Student Organisation (CSO), which was founded by a group of Myanmar refugees in 2005. The organisation was started as a means of providing Chin children access to education.

The importance of education to these children cannot be overstated. The CSO views it as the means to a brighter future. With the majority of parents struggling to find work or making do with menial labour jobs, these classes are not only a way for the children to obtain some form of learning, but also prepare them for the future that awaits them if and when they are resettled.

Ester Moe: ‘I love coming here because I have a school now.’

“Our organisation’s motto is: ‘Hope for the future’,” says CSO secretary Billy Bawi Cung, who is one of the nine teachers at the school. “Education is our one chance (for a better future), both for our people and our country. These children are our only hope, and through education, we wish to give them a better life than the one we had back home.”

CSO chairman Cung Lian Thawng (who is known as Thawng) adds that due to the unrest in their home country, some of the children don’t even know what school is like.

“Every child deserves to go to school, deserves to learn. That is why we are doing this,” he says.

Besides being a teacher at the school, Thawng is also one of the founders of the CSO. “Most of the children in our community here just stay at home, because there is nothing for them to do,” says Thawng.

“So we started thinking about what we could do to help them, and that is how the idea for CSO started.”

The school’s semester is from January to early December, and classes are held from 10am to 2pm, Monday to Friday. The students range from three to 17 years of age, and are divided into five classes: pre-school, kindergarten, and grades one to three.

They are taught four subjects:

English, Mathematics, Science and Chin Literature.

Fourteen-year-old Elen’s favourite subject is Science.

The teaching of the Chin language and literature is an important aspect of the school because, according to Billy and Thawng, the subject is no longer taught in schools in Myanmar.

“We were taught our language and literature when we were younger, but it isn’t allowed anymore,” says Billy.

"It is sad, but the truth is, many of our children don’t know our own language.”

Many of the children only started learning English through this school. Billy proudly shares how three of their former students have gone on to receive awards in their schools after being resettled in the United States.

The teachers, who are all CSO members, go beyond the call of duty to ensure that the school runs smoothly. Besides organising activities like sing-alongs and games to keep the students entertained, the teachers even cook meals for the children’s breaks. They also organise events like indoor games, sports day, annual concerts and excursions for the children.

Bawi Hnem: ‘We come to school, meet people and make friends.’

The teachers and CSO members are also involved in raising funds for the school. They come up with a weekly newsletter on the local Chin community, and sell it at their church every week. They also look for donations from private donors.

Looking at the children, it is apparent that coming to school is one of the day’s highlights. Bawi Hnem, 17, who has been in Malaysia for the past four years, shyly shares that the school has improved her knowledge.

“It also makes life more enjoyable for us. We come to school, meet people and make friends,” she says.

Elen, 14, agrees, saying that he could not speak a word of English before coming to Malaysia a year ago. Now he can understand the language and speak it a little. He adds that his favourite subject is Science.

Amidst all the difficulties these children are facing, the impact of efforts like this is best summed up in the profound words of Ester Moe, 11: “I love coming here because I have a school now; I have a chance to learn.”

Refugee problem needs joint action by governments

The Star Online

A COMPLEX, dual injustice against the Rohingya people of Myanmar now threatens to become a more complicated problem for governments in this region.

Even as a large, 40% minority in Rakhine (the former Arakan) state in western Myanmar, the Rohingyas are denied recognition as a community by Myanmar’s military junta. And so persecution of the Rohingyas became common, forcing them to move abroad.

Rohingyas are scattered over Bang­ladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Ar­­abia, Thailand and the UAE. Refugee flows of the Muslim Rohingyas to Malaysia have risen since 2006, naturally attracted to a relatively close, prosperous and Muslim-majority Malaysia.

For years, Thai authorities had been lax about flows into Thailand, thinking that these Rohingyas were only “passing through” into Malaysia. But the former government of prime minister Samak Sundaravej tightened controls, and boatloads of refugees have since reportedly been towed into sea.

Braving such journeys may seem unnecessarily risky even for refugees, but the Rohingyas’ experience at home could have been worse. According to Amnesty International (AI), in Myanmar they suffered extortion, arbitrary taxation, land confiscation, eviction, property destruction, denial of citizenship and forced labour.

Lately, the Thai army has been accused of brutalising and even shooting some Rohingyas and leaving the rest to drift or die at sea. There are some quarters in the Thai military who even believe the Rohingyas had arrived to fight alongside separatist Muslim rebels in the country’s southern provinces.

When Rohingyas seeking to enter Malaysia through Thailand head for the south, they immediately become suspect. Their Muslim identity further inflames suspicions, particularly when they are able-bodied men who might have arrived only seeking work.

In recent days there have been reports of an illegal labour syndicate trading in migrant workers from Myanmar. This human trafficking is said to involve some uniformed Thai and Malaysian officials.

And since these “workers” are illegal, coming with hopes of a better life in a foreign land, they would want to settle in the country upon arrival.

Rohingyas resemble South Asians, speaking a language similar to Bengali, and a known number of 20,000 are already in Malaysia.

Those who had settled in Bangladesh enjoy linguistic similarities with Bangladeshi culture. However, these stateless refugees reportedly receive no assistance from the Bangladesh government.

Last week, official reports on hundreds of refugees who recently suffered alleged abuse from Thai authorities said most of them were actually Bangladeshis. The reports also said the most popular economic destination was Malaysia.

Five days ago Thailand proposed hosting a regional conference to resolve the issue. Thai authorities have come under the international spotlight for alleged mistreatment of Rohingyas, and the new government in Bangkok wants to dispel any such misgivings.

Meanwhile, the UN High Com­missioner for Refugees is investigating allegations by groups like AI.

Thailand says it wants to resolve the issue properly, while noting that the country has been a target of various economic refugees such as the Hmong people from Laos.

Thailand’s experience in handling refugees can be helpful. It had work­ed successfully with South Korea in relocating people fleeing North Ko­­rea, in the process showing that inter-governmental action is essential.

The Rohingya question should therefore be an important item at the Asean summit in Hua Hin, Thai­land next month. The issue requires a speedy and just resolution, in the interests of the Rohingyas and the countries of Asean.

But there is a misplaced view within Asean that Muslim-majority countries like Malaysia need to take a higher profile role on the Muslim Rohingyas.

To preserve the impartiality of the country and the integrity of the Asean process, a Muslim-majority country should instead avoid seeming to set the agenda.

Asean can be entrusted with finding an agreeable formula for the Rohingyas’ resettlement through consensus. The issue is in essence political, not racial or religious.

Ultimately, the Rohingya problem lies squarely with Myanmar. This and other refugee problems, and all associated hardships, are likely to continue, grow and spill overseas so long as there is a wilful and wanton denial of good governance at home.