UNICEF: Children Are Our Future

Bernama NEWS

This is the seventh from a series of features on social issues, focussing on children.

KUALA LUMPUR, July 28 (Bernama) -- The Convention of the Rights of the Child, often referred to as CRC, adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on 20th Nov 1989, protects the rights of every children by setting standards in legal, civil, health care, education and social services.

According to Youssouf Oomar, Unicef (United Nations Children Fund) representative to Malaysia, the Convention is the tool that has pushed, propelled and pressurised many countries to relook at what they are doing for children, in terms of constitutions and also their laws.

"The CRC is for any child, anywhere, anytime, regardless whether the child has weaknesses, whether the child is disabled, the child has the same right as every other child.

"As responsible parties, we are to make sure that the right of the child is respected. We want the child to develop in the best developed condition. Unicef is mandated by the UN General Assembly to monitor the translation of every article of the Convention into concrete actions. That is the key," he told Bernama in an interview at his office in Wisma UN, Jalan Dungun here recently.

BETTER TIMES

Oomar who is also Unicef's special representative to Brunei Darussalam added that the CRC is one of the key reasons that children these days are faring much better as compared to what they were facing years before.

Unicef, he said, has also developed strategies, one of which, was to work with everyone, in getting them to understand that the child is a concern for every human being on this planet.

"Any government, any NGOs, any religious societies including the Muslim ummah have understood that we need to invest more in our children, in terms of their health, education and care.

"That is why also today you see more people coming out to talk about abuses, wives being beaten, children being beaten. This is a tedious and relentless effort so that we can work together with everyone to make them understand that we have to be a part of the process if we want to build a better society for us.

"I think everyone has realised this but that does not mean we are there. There are still a lot of bad people around, preying on children, kidnapping them and hurting the children," said Oomar.

PRIORITISE EDUCATION

Citing education as an example, Unicef, he said started big programmes around the world to encourage and push children to go to school including getting governments to make school as compulsory and free.

"We realised there are so many children who are out of school and nobody cared. But when came the Convention, we said the child has the right to development and one of the best ways to helping the development of the child is to get the child to school.

"We make sure every child is in school, even when they are in refugee camps. A school is a good place to get a child to understand cultures as there are many children from different background and this promotes social integration. They can grow together, learning from each other. It promotes better understanding and eventually respect," said Oomar.

A child, he added, can also become the social change agent as the learning process in school would empower a child to better understand his or her surrounding.

The CRC also, he said has changed people's perception on certain unacceptable practices involving children.

"There was a time when children were just getting beaten, raped. Boys were getting abused, kidnapped and nobody was doing anything or children were just sent to work (child labour)and exploited. People took this as just being culturally accepted.

"As a result we have seen a lot of things happening. For the first time ever, we had fewer children dying from diseases and today we have more than 60 per cent of children around the world attending school.

"People are realising that the more attention we paid to children, the better would be the quality of our development in 10 years, 15 years," he said.

WORTHY INVESTMENT

According to Oomar, countries like China, India and Malaysia have been able to push their economies to grow rapidly and at a very sustainable rate because they invested in a child.

"India has a huge population and China has even a larger population while Malaysia, a medium country with about 28 million population. In terms of education policies, they have some similarities where investing in a child has been the key factor in the success of the development policies.

"I think I can say that whatever being the conditions now let us remind ourselves that history has shown us that the day we reduced our investment in children, we will start realising things would grow bad and worst. So whatever is the condition, lets keep budgeting for the child," stressed Oomar.

Elaborating further on Malaysia's achievement in education, he said, the country's investment in that field has definitely helped its economic and social development.Malaysia, he added, is an extraordinary example in terms of its achievement now compared to 20 or 40 years ago.

"But now you need to push the bar higher as you gear towards 2020, of becoming a first world country. It is not very far, only another 10 years.

"Remember a child who is 10 years now will be 20 years then so the bar is high in terms of time in the life of a child. And the child grows very fast, the brain develops very fast and if we do not mould and carve the brain in such a way that the child would become a future leader, an effective and responsible leader, that vision will not be achieved.

"That same child in 10 years time, if he or she is not given a better world or a better Malaysia, they will look back and say you mess up my future," he said.

MORE COMMITMENT

Omar said children from 13 years of age and above should be given more chance to speak their mind.

As he emphasised, "it is part of the Convention that we want to listen a bit more to children, listen to their views, start having a dialogue with them, share their views and let them express their opinion and understand that they are part of the development process.

"These are some of the mistakes we learnt from the past when we did not listen to our children by just telling them that their job is just to go to school. But if you do not tell them now, they will go to the Internet to get any answer and they may pick up something which may not be the answer," he argued.

In saying Malaysia is on the right track of development, he described social problems still plaguing the country as similar to what is being faced by other middle-income nations.

He said Malaysia has successfully reduced the number of people dying from preventable diseases and also increased the percentage of children going to school which has crossed 97 per cent.

"But still, you need to be concerned for the other 3.0 per cent. Who are they? Where are they? Why they are not going to school because this is their right?

"Malaysia also has the issue of people living below the poverty line. Who are these poor? Where are they? You also have the city poor category. Again we have to understand why they are poor. Is it because they have left their villages because of the strong pull to the cities?

"I know the Malaysian government is addressing these issues. It is in the Ninth Malaysian Plan and there are some very good signs which can help to sort out these issues," he said.

CHALLENGES ABOUND

Almost 20 years after the CRC was adopted and despite some major improvement, Oomar said the 'journey' of the Convention is far from over.

"We are not there yet. Yes, we have been able to advance the child agenda. We have learnt so much in advancing that agenda, we have learnt some of the good practices, some of the weaknesses. We have seen failures but that does not mean we are discouraged.

"For many reasons, the road is still long. The world is evolving. As you keep addressing problems, you need to prioritise and there are also newly emerging issues that you need to address at the same time," explained Oomar.

He explained that Unicef has been implementing the CRC in stages as it did not have the means to do everything in a short time.

Despite having almost US$2 billion for its global programmes, Unicef still needs a lot more. Oomar explained that most of the funds goes to cater for emergencies in countries such as Congo, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

At times, he said, a simple conflict, civil strife or a natural calamity like the Tsunami could destroy all the progress and benefits accomplished by Unicef.

"When there is a crisis that is where we have to cater for the most vulnerable group because this is the category of human who cannot fend for themselves.

"We make sure that whatever is the condition, and Unicef which helps a lot of countries around the world, the child still goes to school and there would be food in the school. At least this would attracts poor parents to send their kids to school.

"These are some of the things that we are grasping. It is not easy especially when there is an economic crisis as donors who used to give money would not give so much now," said Oomar.

Oomar also spoke about climatic change which to him should be a concern for all as changes in the climate would affect the lives of all people.

"We have suffered from the Tsunami, we have seen floods, we have seen droughts. We have seen the rising level of sea and impact of global warming. We have to make this as part of our concern and say I am contributing to all these so I have to change my behaviour.

"This brings me to the second challenge, which is behavioral change. This could only be done through education and social mobilisation. The other challenge is attitude change. We have to work together to respond to those challenges," said Oomar.

By Melati Mohd Ariff

Rejected at every turn

the star online

The public must strive to make themselves aware of the plight of refugees and endeavour to assist where possible.

WE have refugees in Malay-sia. This is a fact. As Malay-sians, we cannot turn a blind eye. But who exactly is a refugee?

Article 1 of the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (“the Convention”) defines a refugee, inter alia, as a person who “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.”

A refugee is not an economic migrant. An economic migrant is a person who has left his country seeking a better life and can always return to live peacefully.

If caught without travel documents here, he would be subject to Malaysia’s immigration laws and be considered an illegal immigrant.

A refugee, on the other hand, will be faced with the threat of persecution upon return. In other words, refugees are here in Malaysia not out of choice but out of necessity. As refugees have fled their country, they lack the necessary travel documents.

The Convention also outlines the rights of a refugee and as at 2008, it has been signed by 144 countries. However, Malaysia is not a signatory.

In Malaysia, our immigration laws, particularly the Immigration Act 1959/63 (Act 155), do not make a distinction between a refugee and an illegal immigrant (whether economic or otherwise). It is in this regard that Malaysia continues to arrest, and deport, refugees in the country.

From an international platform, such action/punishment by the Malaysian authorities for someone who is running away from threats of persecution appears draconian.

In any event, penalties afforded by the law should, in fact, serve to rehabilitate the offender, not add further psychological and physical trauma.

It should be noted that Article 33 of the Convention stipulates that a refugee is not to be returned (non-refoulement) to his country of origin, as his life or freedom would be threatened.

In Malaysia, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR, set up to primarily safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees) began its operations in the 1970s with the arrival of the Vietnamese refugees.

The UNHCR interviews refugees to assess their circumstance before registering them and providing them with documentation i.e. an identity card.

This interview, as well as an investigative process, thoroughly assess all refugee applications to ensure the validity of the claims.

It is through this that UNHCR ensures a person has a valid claim for refugee status.

To date, the UNHCR has registered more than 45,000 persons of concern consisting of Myanmars, Sri Lankans, Iraqis, Somalis and Palestinians.

Myanmars tally the highest owing to the presence of the repressive military junta in Myanmar. Unfortunately, as Malaysia is yet a signatory to the Convention, the identity cards issued by UNHCR remain unrecognised by our authorities, resulting in arrests, detention and deportation under Malaysia’s immigration laws.

Aside from evading arrests, refugees have various other afflictions. Fifty Refugees (http://fiftyrefugees.wordpress.com/) is a blog that provides real life accounts of the hardships suffered by the refugees in Malaysia: refugees scrounging for jobs, abuses by employers, victims of robberies; men are beaten, women are raped, and children have been displaced.

Being refugees, they have no legal standing in this country, and therefore, have no alternatives in their situation – no recourse to the law.

In fact, the Government has recently enacted the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act 2007 to provide for the offence of trafficking in persons as well as protection and support for trafficked persons.

However, the implementation to date has been rather pathetic as prosecution is slim and there is still no recognition for refugees.

In 2007, the then Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar was reported to have said: “If we recognise refugees, we could open the floodgates and encourage them to come here just to escape economic hardship in their own country.”

As explained, a refugee is different from an economic immigrant. This statement shows ignorance on the part of our authorities. I certainly hope this isn’t a reflection of the Malaysian conscience.

The Government aside, the Malaysian public must strive to make themselves aware of the plight of refugees domestically and internationally while endeavouring to assist where possible. We cannot disregard the curtailment of human rights and democracy in Malaysia or foreign lands.

We are fortunate to be Malaysians and have a Constitution that guarantees everyone freedom of speech and equality.

We know what it feels like to be treated with dignity. We understand truth, justice and freedom.

We must now afford that privilege to everyone else, live by our conscience and use our liberty to promote democracy.

The writer is a young lawyer. Putik Lada, or pepper buds in Malay, captures the spirit and intention of this column — a platform for young lawyers to articulate their views and aspirations about the law, justice and a civil society. For more information about the young lawyers, please visit www.malaysianbar.org.my/nylc.

Malaysian officers held over Myanmar migrant sale

etaiwannews

Malaysian authorities have arrested five immigration officers suspected of selling illegal immigrants from Myanmar to human traffickers, police said Tuesday.

It is the first time Malaysia has found evidence that government officials were involved in the forced labor exploitation of Myanmar migrants at its border with Thailand _ an accusation that prompted the U.S. State Department to put Malaysia on a list of top trafficking offenders last month.

Police federal crimes investigation head Mohamad Bakri Zinin said authorities have arrested five Immigration Department officers and four bus drivers over the past five days.

Investigations showed the officers brought Myanmar migrants _ who lived in Malaysia without valid travel documents _ to Malaysia's northern border with Thailand and handed them to human traffickers in exchange for up to 600 ringgit ($170) for each.

The traffickers took the migrants into Thailand and told them to pay 2,000 ringgit ($570) each for their freedom or they would be forced to work in the fishing industry, Mohamad Bakri said. "These things really happen," Mohamad Bakri said.

All nine arrested could be charged for profiting from the exploitation of trafficked persons, he said. The bus drivers allegedly helped transport the migrants to the border. If convicted, they face up to 15 years in prison.

The officers arrested were reportedly senior state-level personnel. Immigration officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

In April, a report by the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations said illegal Myanmar migrants deported from Malaysia have been forced to work in brothels, fishing boats and restaurants across the border in Thailand if they had no money to buy their freedom.

The U.S. State Department recommended that Malaysia fully implement and enforce its anti-trafficking laws _ which have been in place for several years _ and increase prosecutions, convictions and sentences for trafficking.

The United Nations refugee agency has registered more than 48,000 refugees in Malaysia, most from Myanmar. But community leaders estimate the number of people from military-ruled Myanmar living in Malaysia is about twice that.

Immigration DG shocked by officers involved in human trafficking

The Malay Mail

THE Immigration Department director-general reacted with shock when he learned that more than 10 of his officers were being investigated for involvement in human trafficking.

Abdul Rahman Othman said yesterday that he was not aware of any investigation against any of his officers bythe AG's Chambers. He said he had been receiving calls non-stop since the news broke out.

"Till now I still don't know who the officers they are referring to and if that came from police investigations. I am yet to find out. I don't have any details," he said.

Yesterday, the head of the Prosecution Unit at the Attorney-General's Chambers, Tun Abdul Maj id Tun Hamzah, said that more than 10 Immigration officers were being investigated for involvement in human trafficking.

He said the officers based at various locations in Peninsular Malaysia, face prosecution for their roles in the activity.

Investigations into their activities were ongoing and "it was a matter of time" before they were hauled up."We expect to complete the investigations very soon," Tun Majid said.

Asked what action the department would take against the officers being investigated, Rahman said the standard procedures would be followed.

"If they are being investigated by any other enforcement authority, we will provide our full cooperation intheir investigations. If they are charged, they will be suspended," he said.

Tun Majid in his statement said that three suspects would be charged with human trafficking this week, showing the country was serious in fighting the menace.

This comes just weeks after the United States had claimed that Malaysia was not doing enough to arrestthe problem.

It may seem like a proactive move by the government to go all out to combat human trafficking.

However,human rights groups feel that catching the traffickers will not solve the problem.

It was more important that the government be stern with enforcement officers and departments that areinvolved in trafficking.

Tenaganita director Irene Fernandez said it was good to see the government taking serious action againstthe culprits. However, it was sad to see that it is being done because of external pressure.

"There is still a lack of political commitment by our leaders to fight human trafficking. Punishing oneor two does not solve it. We have to look at the root of the problem and those who are responsible but are letting it happen" she said.

National Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) commissioner Datuk N. Siva Subramaniam felt that therestill was a lack of education among members of the public on human trafficking.

He said many still did not understand that not paying wages to their workers was also considered human trafficking.

"There is a need for all enforcement agencies to work together and also to create more public awareness that the government is not taking human trafficking issues lightly," Siva said.

Malaysian Human Rights Organisation (Suaram) director S. Arutchelvam said the issue needed more substantial and consistent action.

"The authorities will have to get involved more deeply and find out more on what is happening. Right now everyone is under pressure after the recent US report.

"I am just worried that once everything has cooled down, it will be back to square one again," said Arutchelvam.

The United States annual trafficking in persons report that is meant to expose trafficking problems aroundthe world and propose solutions, put Malaysia on its list of top trafficking offenders recently.

The report stated that Malaysia is a destination and source "for women and children trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation and for men, women and children, trafficked for the purpose of forced labour".

MALAYSIA NGO gives medical, counseling aid to Myanmar refugees

UCANEWS.COM

TANAH RATA, Malaysia (UCAN) -- A Catholic NGO is helping refugees in the mountainous central region of Malaysia who say they are cut off from their loved ones and live in constant fear.

"We are constantly afraid of the security forces and everyone else around us," said Batang, a refugee leader, during a mobile clinic conducted by A Call To Serve (ACTS).

"We have not seen our families in years. When ACTS comes here, it is like our parents visiting us."

Batang, 38, is one of several hundred ethnic Chin people from Myanmar who live in the forests at the mountain ridges around Cameron Highlands, a popular tourist destination and agricultural center.

ACTS, which gives medical aid and other assistance to refugees who have no one to turn to, is the only hope for many.

"It is our only chance of getting any medical attention when we fall sick or get injured," Batang, a Baptist, said during the July 4 clinic.

ACTS sets up mobile clinics in three areas within Cameron Highlands once every two months. It gives free medical and counseling services, as well as food and clothes to the refugees who have settled in the area trying to find work in vegetable plantations.

Doctor Caroline Gunn, a volunteer in her 60s, said most of the medical cases are either anxiety-related or due to exposure to pesticides. Common ailments are headaches, gastritis and skin rashes, she added.

Doctor Gunn left private practice a few years ago to devote herself full-time to serving the refugees. She said that she could not do otherwise, seeing how great the need was.

Most of the Chin refugees are men in their late teens or early 20s who ran away from their homes in northwestern Myanmar to escape persecution.

Teisanglian, 21, for example, said he ran away two years ago after Myanmar soldiers conscripted him into forced labor.

Another refugee, in his 20s, said he ran away with his wife after soldiers threatened to kill him for giving medical care to his own ethnic group.

According to ACTS, apart from fleeing political and economic persecution in Myanmar, these people end up in Malaysia after having been trafficked, or after having fled natural disasters. A refugee settlement in the jungle

There are more than 100,000 Myanmar refugees in the country, according to ACTS director Rosemary Chong.

ACTS also operates a permanent clinic and fortnightly mobile clinics at two detention centers and two convalescent homes in the Kuala Lumpur area. In addition, it conducts periodic mobile clinics in other parts of the country and a monthly food aid program at its center in Petaling Jaya.

Explaining why she started this ministry, Chong said: "The local poor have access to government clinics for free. But the refugees living in the jungles have no access to public health."

"We have to put our faith into action. We have to move the Church to see what is real" in our neighborhood, said the 60-year-old lay Catholic woman, whose simple office is decorated with a Marian statue, religious pictures and Bible verses.

ACTS, which started in 2003 with the help of Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), now has eight local full-time staff, more than 20 full-time Myanmar refugee volunteers and around 50 part-time volunteers of various nationalities and religions.

Calls for the abolition of caning of migrants in Malaysia

ABC News

Recently it was the issue of domestic maid abuse, now the spotlight is on a 7 year old law also which allows for the caning of migrant workers in Malaysia.

Human rights group Amnesty International quoting a statement made in Malaysian parliament says at least 34-thousand migrants, 60 per cent of them from Indonesia have been whipped with a cane over the past 6 years.

Amnesty's Director of the Asia Pacific region Sam Zarifi says the punishment is cruel and constitutes torture.

Presenter:

Claudette WerdenSpeakers:

Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International

Listen: Windows Media

ZARIFI: Amnesty International has been quite worried about this law since it was introduced in 2002 when the law was instituted to add caning as punishment metered out to migrant labourers in Malaysia, we had been following this but I admit Amnesty International was stunned to find out the widespread nature of this problem when in the Malaysian parliament last week, the figures were released that nearly 35-thousand people had been caned since the law was passed in 2002.

WERDEN: And why were they being caned?

ZARIFI: As you know Malaysia is heavily reliant on migrant labour for its economy, there's probably more than 2 million migrant labourers and migrants in general in Malaysia. In 2002, in part to respond to public fears about this influx, the law was passed that added caning to the punishments available for migrants for a range of infractions some of them crimes but others quite low level infractions and since then the police have regularly handing out this punishment to migrants and of course this is a completely unacceptable form of punishment across the world, there's no question this amounts to torture and inhuman punishment. Certainly what we need to see from the Malaysian government, is steps to try and protect the migrant population instead of laws that subject them to medieval punishment.

WERDEN: Has there been a response from the Malaysian government?

ZARIFI: There is an attempt by Malaysian groups to try to reform, or in fact get rid of it obviously and the issue has been raised in the Malaysian parliament, we certainly believe now is the time for the Malaysian government to get rid of this punishment and we certainly hope attention from the international community but really also Malaysia's neighbours who produce most of the migrant labourers in particular Indonesia, will get the government to get rid of this law.

WERDEN: Would you be ramping up the campaign with various human rights groups in neighbouring countries?

ZARIFI: Certainly Amnesty International will be raising this issue in international foru and we will try to get the United Nations to take a look at the situation, at the same time we really think the best way forward is for regional governments, in particular Indonesia who provides the bulk of the migrant labour in Malaysia and 60 per cent of the people who had suffered caning in Malaysia are from Indonesia, we hope the Indonesian government on a bilateral level will raise this issue with the Malaysian government

UN Chief Ban Ki-moon's Speech on his visit to Myanmar

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

REMARKS ON MYANMAR TO DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS,

UNITED NATIONS AGENCIES, INTERNATIONAL AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

Yangon, 4 July 2009

Excellencies,

Distinguished guests and colleagues

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This is my second visit to Myanmar in just over a year. Both visits have been at critical times for the country’s future.

My first visit was in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. This devastating natural disaster, which took so many lives and created so much hardship, touched hearts across the globe. In Myanmar’s moment of need, the world responded generously.

I want to personally thank everyone here today for your remarkable contributions to the relief and recovery effort.

You have saved lives, rejuvenated communities and made it possible for many thousands of people to reclaim their livelihoods. You have helped Myanmar to overcome adversity. It is important that this work continues.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I felt the tragedy of Cyclone Nargis deeply -- as a fellow Asian and as Secretary-General . I am Asia’s second Secretary-General. The first was Myanmar's U Thant. I revere his memory. I also recall his wise words.

U Thant said: “The worth of the individual human being is the most unique and precious of all our assets and must be the beginning and end of all our efforts. Governments, systems, ideologies and institutions come and go, but humanity remains.”

This is why I have returned.

As Secretary-General, I attach the highest importance to helping the people of this country to achieve their legitimate aspirations.

The United Nations works for people – their rights, their well-being, their dignity. It is not an option. It is our responsibility.

I have come to show the unequivocal shared commitment of the United Nations to the people of Myanmar.

I am here today to say: Myanmar – you are not alone.

We want to work with you for a united, peaceful, prosperous, democratic and modern Myanmar. We want to help you rise from poverty.

We want to work with you so your country can take its place as a respected and responsible member of the international community.

We want to help you achieve national reconciliation, durable peace and sustainable development. But, let me emphasize: neither peace nor development can thrive without democracy and respect for human rights.

Myanmar is no exception.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The challenges are many. But they are not insurmountable.

We know from experience that securing Myanmar’s peaceful, democratic and prosperous future is a complex process.

None of Myanmar’s challenges can be solved on their own. Peace, development and human rights are closely inter-related.

Failure to address them with equal attention will risk undermining the prospects for democracy, durable peace and prosperity.

However, we also know that where there is a genuine will for dialogue and reconciliation, all obstacles can be overcome.

The question today is this: how much longer can Myanmar afford to wait for national reconciliation, democratic transition and full respect for human rights?

The cost of delay will be counted in wasted lives, lost opportunities and prolonged isolation from the international community.

Let me be clear: all the people of Myanmar must work in the national interest.

I said this yesterday when I met with representatives of Myanmar’s registered political parties and with those armed groups that have chosen to observe a cease-fire. I encouraged them respectively to honour their commitments to the democratic process and peace.

Nonetheless, the primary responsibility lies with the Government to move the country towards its stated goals of national reconciliation and democracy.

Failure to do so will prevent the people of Myanmar from realizing their full potential.

Failure to do so will deny the people of Myanmar their right to live in dignity and to pursue better standards of life in larger freedom.

These principles lie at the core of the United Nations Charter, whose opening words are “We the peoples”.

The founding Constitution of independent Myanmar echoes these noble words. We must work together to ensure that Myanmar’s future embodies these principles too.

With this in mind, I bring three messages.

First, respect for human dignity is the precondition for peace and development everywhere.

Myanmar was one of the first United Nations Member States to adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

It subscribed early on to the consensus that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is indispensable to political, economic and social progress.

Unfortunately, that commitment has not been matched in deed. Myanmar’s human rights record remains a matter of grave concern.

The Government has articulated its goals as stability, national reconciliation and democracy. The upcoming election –the first in twenty years – must be inclusive, participatory and transparent if it is to be credible.

Myanmar’s way forward must be rooted in respect for human rights.

This is why I say that all political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, should be released without delay.

When I met General Than Shwe yesterday and today, I asked to visit Ms. Suu Kyi. I am deeply disappointed that he refused.

I believe the government of Myanmar has lost a unique opportunity to show its commitment to a new era of political openness.

Allowing a visit to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would have been an important symbol of the government’s willingness to embark on the kind of meaningful engagement that will be essential if the elections in 2010 are to be seen as credible.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi must be allowed to participate in the political process without further delay.

Indeed, all the citizens of Myanmar must be given the opportunity to contribute fully to the future of this country.

National reconciliation cannot be complete without the free and active participation of all who seek to contribute.

The country must embark on a process of genuine dialogue that includes all concerned parties, all ethnic groups and all minorities.

People must be free to debate and to engage in political dialogue, and they must have free access to the information that will help them participate meaningfully in the democratic process.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Any transition is difficult. Myanmar has already undergone transitions from sovereign kingdom, to occupied colony, and now independent State.

This history carries a twin legacy of armed conflict and political deadlock, including recent painful events: the repression of demonstrators in 1988, the cancellation of the 1990 election results, and the clampdown on peaceful dissent that continues to this day.

At the same time, there have been some positive efforts that should be recognized.

Although still fragile, the cease-fire agreements between the Government and armed groups have reduced the level of conflict. The United Nations has wide-ranging experience in making such gains irreversible.

Sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity are legitimate concerns for any government. We contend that opening and broadening the political space is the best way to ensure that each group and each individual becomes part of the greater collective project.

The military, all political parties, ethnic minority groups, civil society, and indeed every son and daughter of Myanmar has a role to play in this country’s transition.

Only mutual compromise, respect and understanding can lay the foundations for durable peace, national reconciliation and democracy.

My second message is on addressing the humanitarian needs of Myanmar’s people.

I am glad I have been able to return to see the progress made in the Irrawaddy Delta. The loss of some 130,000 people was tragic, but the rebuilding I saw today was impressive.

The tragedy showed the resilience of the people of Myanmar. It also demonstrated that people throughout the world care deeply about Myanmar and its people.

Above all, the response to Cyclone Nargis proved the value of engagement over isolation. The unprecedented cooperation between Myanmar, the United Nations and ASEAN through the Tripartite Core Group, with the support of the donor community, has demonstrated that humanitarian imperatives and the principles of sovereignty do not conflict.

Humanitarian assistance -- in Myanmar as elsewhere -- should never be held hostage to political considerations. We can and must work together to ensure access to humanitarian and development assistance to all those in Myanmar who need it.

This brings me to my third message. It is time for Myanmar to unleash its economic potential. Myanmar sits in the middle of Asia’s economic miracle. Harnessing Myanmar to the rapid advances taking place around it is the surest way to raise living standards.

I welcome the Government’s policy of opening up to outside trade and investment, and its efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, control HIV, combat human trafficking and curtail opium production.

But the reality is that millions continue to live in poverty. Standards of living in Myanmar remain among the lowest in Asia.

The people of Myanmar need jobs, they need food security and they need access to health care. We must work to ensure that the people of Myanmar can benefit from and contribute to the regional and global economy.

We must recognize that the region and the world have much to gain from a stable, prosperous and democratic Myanmar. We must work together for that goal. The Government of Myanmar must seize the moment.

It must take advantage of the opportunities that the international community is prepared to offer to the people of Myanmar.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I came here as a friend.

My duty is to uphold the ideals and principles of the United Nations Charter.

My role is to encourage all of you – the Government, political parties, ethnic groups, civil society – to move forward together as one people and one nation.

Nothing is insurmountable or impossible when the people’s interest is placed above divisions. The region and the world are changing fast. Myanmar only stands to gain from engagement -- and from embarking on its own change.

The Government of Myanmar has repeatedly stated that cooperation with the United Nations is the cornerstone of the country’s foreign policy.

We ask it to match deeds with words.

The more Myanmar works in partnership with the United Nations to respond to its people’s needs and aspirations, the more it affirms its sovereignty.

Similarly it is incumbent on the international community as whole to work together to help Myanmar meet our shared goals: a united, peaceful, prosperous and democratic future, with full respect for the human rights of all the country’s people.

Kyae zoo tin bar tae.

News Source: Irrawaddy

Semenyih deport under repair, immigrants transferred

the star online

KUALA LUMPUR: The authorities on Saturday began transferring almost 1,000 Bangladeshi and Indonesian illegal immigrants held at the Semenyih Immigration detention depot to depots elsewhere in the country following a riot there by Myanmar illegal immigrants on Wednesday so as to facilitate repairs.

Selangor Immigration director Johari Yusof said 182 of the immigrants were transferred Saturday to the temporary detention depot at the KL International Airport (KLIA) for repatriation to their countries.

Some 800 more immigrants would be transferred tomorrow to depots in Machap (Melaka), Ajil (Terengganu) and Pekan Nanas (Johor), he told Bernama.

He said the 600 Myanmar immigrants at the depot were expected to be transferred to the KLIA depot provided there was room there.

Johari said the transfers were being carried out to facilitate the repair of infrastructure such as the fencing and lights as well as the hostel blocks damaged during the riot.

Last Wednesday, the Myanmar immigrants assaulted the Immigration enforcement personnel in protest against the transfer of 17 Myanmar immigrants to the KLIA depot. The 17 immigrants have been sent back to the Semenyih depot. - Bernama

Hostages and slaves: Human trafficking on the Malaysian-Thai border

SEAPA

Human trafficking in the region is one of the serious concerns facing ASEAN, according to this article written under the 2009 Southeast Asian Press Alliance Journalism Fellowhip Program.

By Wai Moe

Alor Setar, Malaysia - "Malaysian migration officers sold me to a human trafficking gang located near the Thai-Malaysian border," said Lwin Ko, one of thousands of victims of human trafficking in Malaysia.

Like many other Burmese migrant workers and refugees in Malaysia, he was arrested for illegal entry into the country. After processing in an immigration detention center, he said, immigration officers transferred him directly to a gang of human traffickers, who treated him as a "hostage," or slave, to be held for a lucrative ransom.

Migrant workers are apprehended and led to an open area by civilian security volunteers to have their documents inspected during an immigration raid in Kuala Lumpur in 2005.

If no ransom was forthcoming after a few weeks, Lwin Ko would be passed on like many others to work as a crewman on a fishing boat or, for women, to work as household servants or as prostitutes in brothels.

When police arrested him, Lwin Ko, 17 years old at the time, was on his way to work in a Malaysian factory.

"I did not have any money," he said.

"If I had about RM 100 [US $28], I could have paid the Malay police to release me."

After serving six months in prison, he was transferred to a Malaysian immigration detention camp in Juru in Pulau Pinang Province, one of the most notorious detention centers in the country.

After one week, Malaysian immigration officers placed him in a truck with more than a dozen other Burmese migrants.

"We drove for three hours to the border town of Alor Setar," Lwin Ko recalled. "The truck stopped at a roadside shop near a rubber plantation, where officers had a meeting with traffickers. Then we were moved to a traffickers’ truck where we were put with about 70 Burmese from the Juru detention camp."

Lwin Ko received money from friends and paid RM 2,300 [$653] to return to his job in Kuala Lampur.

Recently, six victims of human trafficking in Malaysia told their stories to "The Irrawaddy". Each told a similar tale, confirming that corrupt Malaysian immigration officers, organized trafficking gangs, and corrupt Thai officials, work in tandem to transfer hapless illegal migrants to human traffickers.

After leaving detention centers, luckless migrants eventually end up in buildings or homes along the Thai-Malaysia border owned by the gangs.

None knew the amount of money the traffickers paid the corrupt officers, but it’s estimated to be somewhere between RM 700 to 1,000 [$198- $286] for each person sold.

One of the victims, Win Tun, 26, who is from central Burma and who worked in Kuala Lumpur, said: "We were arrested by police and immigration officers, and they placed us in the hands of traffickers."

The gangs told the trafficking victims they had to pay RM 1,900 to 2,300 [$539-$653] if they wanted to return to Kuala Lumpur or Burma. Most gang members, they said, were ethnic Mon from Burma. Gang leaders, however, were usually Thai or Malaysian, who appeared to be well connected to local Thai or Malaysian authorities. Some leaders were reportedly officers in either immigration or police services.

Sithu Aung, 30, who is from Rangoon and worked in Kuala Lumpur, recalled what happened when he arrived at the traffickers’ building.

"They let me call my friends in Kuala Lumpur to ask for money," he said. "They asked me for RM 2,300 to take me from that border town back to Kuala Lumpur."

Unlucky migrants who cannot afford to pay for their freedom are usually sold to owners of Thai fishing boats, where they work in slave-like conditions.

According to a Burmese man, a former member of a trafficking gang who is now in hiding in Kuala Lumpur, after Malaysian immigration officers sell victims to a trafficking gang, the gangs usually wait one or two weeks for money to arrive from a victim’s family or friends.

If no money comes by the third week, said the man, who goes by the name Wanna, the hostages are usually passed on to be sold into the fishing industry or into household service or prostitution.

"Taking an illegal migrant is like taking a hostage," said Wanna. "If they have money, they cannot be freed until we are paid.

If they don’t have money, they will be sold somewhere else."

Traffickers have no fear of authorities, he said, because immigration officials see illegal migrants as "second-class humans."

Latheeffa Koya, a well-known Malaysian human rights lawyer, said the human trafficking business along the border is nothing more than a form of slave trade in the contemporary world. The problem is transnational, she said, and to be remedied, all nations in the region must cooperate with each other.

"The reasons behind the problems are corrupt law enforcement and xenophobia," she said. "The Malaysian people and the media have to know about this ugly issue."

Why are Burmese the main victims in the slave trade on the Malaysian-Thai border? Aegile Fernandez, the coordinator of Tenaganita, a Malaysian human rights group, explained: "Burmese are highly valuable goods [for traffickers] because as refugees they are not accepted by their own country."

Some victims who are sold to traffickers had even registered with the UNHCR, the UN refugee agency. But Malaysia has not signed the UN refugee convention, she said, so it goes unrecognized and is of no help.

"We are sad to see that Malaysia has high corruption," Aegile Fernanadez said. "Officials are so greedy for money. They look at illegal migrants as a valuable resource."

The situation facing Burmese migrants in Malaysia, who total an estimated 500,000 people, is quite different from migrants from other countries in the region who work in the country.

Malaysian human rights groups say that if Malaysian authorities arrest undocumented migrants from Indonesia, the Philippines or Bangladesh, they are returned back to their country through government-to-government cooperation.

However, the Burmese military regime is unwilling to cooperate with any country which has detained illegal Burmese migrants. When faced with immigration problems, even legal migrant workers who are in Malaysia via agents cannot get routine help from the Burmese embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

Sometimes Burmese embassies in Thailand and Malaysia even publish notices in Burmese that read: "Come in person, but don’t come with a problem."

Of course, human traffickers operate on a two-way street, and also smuggle people out of Burma through Thailand and into Malaysia. All undocumented Burmese migrants interviewed by "The Irrawaddy" said that they paid up to 100,000 kyat [about US $100] to trafficking agents in Rangoon or Kawthoung, in southern Burma, to be smuggled into Malaysia.

Traffickers in Kawthoung transport migrants to the Thai town of Ranong by boat, where they then depart by bus or vehicle to cross the Malaysian border.

"I was put in a box that they placed in the baggage area of a bus," said Myint Lwin, who recalled his journey into Malaysia.

Traffickers clearly have the help of local police and immigration officials, said one migrant.

"I saw people in uniform help traffickers in smuggling people from Thailand to Malaysia," he said. "How else can we come to Malaysia through so many checkpoints?"

How to combat the human trafficking issue in Malaysia and all of Southeast Asia is a major issue for Malaysian authorities as well as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Human rights advocates and analysts say all Asean nations have a clear obligation under the new Asean charter.

Migrant issues in the region are recognized as an urgent problem that must be resolved, said Usana Berananda of the department of Asean Affairs in Thailand’s foreign ministry.

But recognizing a problem and taking concrete actions to solve it are not the same. Migrants and analysts are skeptical, pointing out that officials in many Asean countries still view migrants as an enemy, even though many significant industries and businesses in the region survive by employing a migrant workforce, often illegal.

"I do not see any good prospect for Burmese migrants and refugees unless governments in the region give up their bad policies on migrants," Aegile Fernandez said. "We need the governments to take real action against corrupt immigration officers. However, it will be difficult because the immigration department is also the government itself."

While activists and honest government officials struggle with the human trafficking problem in the region, average Burmese migrant workers in Malaysia simply hope they can avoid the corrupt officials and traffickers.

"I need to be aware of everything," said Myint Lwin, who was sold to traffickers in late 2008. "Everything depends on karma. I am just praying to secure myself from arrest and human traffickers in the future."

Stories such as Myint Lwin’s were outlined in a US State Department report this year, citing credible evidence of Malaysian immigration officials’ involvement in human trafficking. The report estimated that only 20 percent of the victims sold to traffickers by Malaysian officers are able to pay for their return.

The unlucky people who cannot pay are passed on into a pitiless world of exploitation. In June, the Malaysian government denied the US allegations in the report, issuing a statement calling the allegations "baseless."

"The government has already initiated a few internal investigations, but [the accusations are] baseless," said Malaysian Home Ministry Secretary Gen Mahmood Adam.

Such words ring hollow to the Burmese victims now toiling on Thai fishing boats or in houses of prostitution. ----------------------------------------

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (http://www.seapa.org) is a coalition of press freedom advocacy groups from Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. Established in November 1998, it is the only regional network with the specific mandate of promoting and protecting press freedom throughout Southeast Asia. SEAPA is composed of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (Indonesia), the Jakarta-based Institute for the Study of the Free Flow of Information (ISAI), the Manila-based Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, and the Thai Journalists Association. SEAPA also has partners in Malaysia, Cambodia, East Timor, and exiled Burmese media, and undertakes projects and programs for press freedom throughout the region.

For inquiries, please contact us at: seapa@seapa.org, or call +662 243 5579.