Thousands of Refugees Living in Constant Fear of Arrest in Malaysia

IPS

KUALA LUMPUR, June 29, 2010 (IPS) - As Rajoo, 27, makes tea at a rundown shed in Brickfields, a depressed suburb of the capital inhabited by hundreds of Tamil immigrants from Sri Lanka, he evinces no sign of anxiety and a deep yearning for something.

He dreams of returning to his village in war-ravaged Sri Lanka except that it had been razed to the ground by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) – an armed group that had waged a decades-long bloody insurgency against the government on the country’s north-eastern coast, home to its largest ethnic minority.

The LTTE was finally defeated by military troops in May 2009.

Despite the war’s end, Rajoo says he is scared of returning to his home country. "My village is gone and my relatives are either dead or in camps," he says. "At the height of the battle, I left my wife and son with an uncle and fled to South India by sea and flew to Malaysia."

Rajoo is one of an estimated 100,000 refugees currently living in Malaysia and who risk arrest by the highly feared People’s Volunteer Corps (RELA), a paramilitary group which has the power to apprehend refugees and undocumented migrant workers and have them jailed or deported.

Rajoo, who declines to give his real name for fear of arrest by members of RELA, says he has an identification card issued by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), "but authorities don’t give it much respect," he tells IPS.

The UNCHR card entitles refugees like him to basic rights such as freedom of movement within the host country in line with the international agreements on refugees.

Resettling former Sri Lankan refugees like Rajoo in their homeland is an uphill struggle even if the war has ended, says opposition lawmaker and human rights activist Kulasegaran Murugesan, who is of Tamil descent and is campaigning in the Malaysian parliament to improve the Tamil refugee conditions in Malaysia.

Refugees are not allowed to work under Malaysian law, but most do anyway to supplement the UNHCR monthly assistance of 300 Malaysian ringgit (around 93 U.S. dollars) that they are getting, says Murugesan.

Malaysia has not acceded to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol.

The Convention is an international agreement that defines who is a refugee and establishes their rights and the legal obligations of the states parties.

Although the government has agreed to cooperate with the UNHCR in addressing refugee issues on humanitarian grounds, Malaysian authorities often do not differentiate between refugees and economic migrants, says Murugesan. Such migrants comprise around three million documented and undocumented individuals from poor countries who are trying to make a living in this South-east Asian country

"Malaysia is a dangerous place for refugees who are often abused, arrested and treated like criminals," Ragunath Kesavan, president of the Malaysian Bar Council, tells IPS.

"Refugees and asylum seekers, particularly women and children, are often at risk of arrest, prosecution, detention and deportation. In some cases, they are trafficked upon deportation."

These observations confirm the findings of international human rights group Amnesty International (AI). Instead of finding comfort and protection, the refugees in Malaysia end up "abused, exploited, arrested and locked up," said the AI in its report released this month.

"The abusive way we treat refugees and our refusal to sign the U.N.’s refugee protocols is a shame," says prominent lawyer and rights activist Surendran Nagalingam. "Our human rights record is deplorable among the family of nations in the region."

Murugesan believes Malaysia refuses to sign the Convention and the Protocol for fear it would be swamped by migrants who can easily claim to be refugees such as what happened when Indonesians from Aceh province flocked to Malaysia at the height of the conflict in this northern Indonesian province.

But the Aceh conflict in neighbouring Indonesia is effectively over, he says. "There is no fear of being swamped now," he adds.

"We must sign these protocols and play our part as responsible citizens of the world," he says. Otherwise, "we forfeit our right to decry abuse in other places like the Middle East."

Refugees seeking safety in Malaysia also come from war-torn Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan. The majority are natives of military-ruled Burma, who fled their country only to be subjected to a litany of abuses upon reaching Malaysia, since the government does not recognise their status.

The refugees’ lack of legal status for refugees in Malaysia means they can be punished with imprisonment of up to five years and whipping for illegally entering the country, says the AI.

To deflect mounting criticism of its alleged violations of the rights of refugees under international treaties, Malaysia has announced that it is considering certain measures to improve the plight of refugees within its borders such as allowing refugees to work while awaiting resettlement abroad.

But a senior home ministry official, who spoke to IPS on condition of anonymity, says these measures are still at a planning stage. "The government has not given the green light to implement (them)," he says.

Until such measures are in place, Rajoo and other refugees like him will live in constant fear of arrest.

Amnesty says Malaysia 'dangerous' for refugees

( AFP )

KUALA LUMPUR — Amnesty International on Wednesday said Malaysia was a "dangerous" place for refugees who were often often abused, arrested and "treated like criminals".

The Southeast Asian nation has nearly 90,000 refugees and asylum-seekers but the human rights group estimates the number of unregistered refugees at more than twice the official figure.

Amnesty said the refugees, mainly from military-ruled Myanmar, came seeking refuge in Malaysia but were subjected to a litany of abuses as the government does not recognise their status.

"For those refugees and asylum-seekers who are forced to flee their homelands in search of protection, Malaysia is an unwelcoming and dangerous place," it said in a strongly-worded report ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20.

"They come to Malaysia seeking safety, having fled situations of torture, persecution or death threats. But once they arrive, they are abused, exploited, arrested and locked up -- in effect, treated like criminals," the group added.

Malaysia has not ratified the United Nation's Refugee Convention and refugees -- who also come from Sri Lanka, Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan -- are often treated as undocumented workers, Amnesty said.

The lack of legal status means refugees can be punished by imprisonment for up to five years and whipping for illegally entering the country.

Amnesty also claimed the Malaysian government had deported refugees to persecution that they had fled, but said no new incidents had been recorded since July last year.

The rights group singled out a government-backed volunteer force known as RELA, which is empowered to carry out immigration checks, for alleged abuse and extorting money from refugees and asylum-seekers.

Malaysia in February said it would consider issuing identification cards to UN-recognised refugees and a proposal to allow them to work while awaiting resettlement abroad.

Mahmood Adam, the secretary-general of the Home Ministry which is tasked to implement the proposal, told AFP the government had yet to decide on the matter and it would be discussed next week.

Nazri Aziz, a senior cabinet minister in charge of law, conceded the abuses claimed by Amnesty took place but denied the government was mistreating refugees.

"It's not the fault of the government at all, they may be exploited by the people who employ them knowing that they have no legal status here," the minister in the prime minister's department told AFP in an interview.

"They take advantage of the refugees -- employ them and pay them the lowest salary, I don't think I want to deny that," Nazri said.

The minister said the government could not recognise the refugees as it was a "sensitive" matter but said they were allowed to stay in the country.

"We don't push them out into the seas... they are refugees, they came here and if they have equal rights, certainly the locals are not happy," said Nazri.

Amnesty urged Malaysia to immediately issue ID cards to the refugees and grant them the right to work. It also urged other countries to increase their resettlement of refugees currently in Malaysia.

"Refugees should be able to live with dignity while they are in Malaysia," Chris Nash, Amnesty International head of refugee and migrant rights, said in the report.

UN delegation accuses Malaysian police of torturing, abusing suspects to obtain confessions

By Julia Zappei  ( AP )

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — A United Nations delegation accused Malaysian police officers Friday of torturing and abusing detainees to obtain confessions, saying suspects prefer prison rather than police custody and immigrant detention centres.

The government must also set up prompt and independent investigations into deaths in police custody, and should repeal or change strict security laws that allow indefinite detention without trial, the five-member U.N. group said at the end of its two-week visit.

Malick Sow, the delegation head, told reporters it found detainees were "subject to torture or ill-treatment in order to obtain confession or evidence in police detention."

Sow said detainees, some held without the knowledge of their families and lawyers' representation, reported being locked up in small rooms without adequate food, and punched, kicked or drenched in dirty water.

"People prefer being in prisons rather than in police custody and immigration centres," Sow said. "They feel more safe in prison."

Malaysia is one of the most stable and prosperous countries in Southeast Asia. Although a democracy, it has a strong security apparatus often criticized by rights activists, including for its treatment of refugees and economic migrants from poorer countries in the region.

Thousands of people were detained in Malaysia under preventive laws, the delegation said. Criminal suspects should be charged in courts instead of being detained without charge, it added.

The security laws allow for the detention of a person for "any reason and in some cases the detainee is not even aware of the reason ... This is a classic case of arbitrary detention," Sow said.

Another U.N. delegate, Roberto Garreton, said international rights conventions were not widely discussed or practiced in the country. "In Malaysia, there is no human rights culture," he said.

The delegation is due to submit a preliminary report on its findings to the Malaysian government in September, then present its final report to the U.N. Human Rights Council, of which Malaysia is a member, in March next year.

Countries found to have failed to protect human rights can lose their seat.

The government is in the process of changing the laws, and amendments could be tabled in Parliament next month. But few details have been released. The government says it cannot repeal the laws because they are needed for national security.

The U.N. delegation also urged the government to stop keeping refugees, especially pregnant women and children, in detention centres in "overcrowded and unsanitary" conditions. It said immigrants should have access to lawyers at any time.

Raja Azahar Raja Abdul Manap, a senior Home Ministry official, said the government was in the process of upgrading the immigration detention centres.

"It's not meant for longer periods," he said, adding some foreign governments failed to take prompt responsibility for their citizens.

Rioters claim bad treatment at detention camp

Asiaone News

HULU TERENGGANU, Malaysia - The three-hour riot at the Immigration detention camp in Ajil on Saturday night was sparked by a fight between two groups of Vietnamese inmates, Immigration officials said yesterday.

Police, however, have a different story.

State police chief Datuk Shukri Dahlan said almost 200 immigrants from Vietnam and Myanmar turned aggressive after what they claimed was mistreatment at the camp.

The Immigration Department said the incident began at 9.30pm when a group of Vietnamese immigrants started fighting with a new batch of compatriots.

State director Mahasan Mustafa said the situation worsened when both groups vented their frustrations on camp officials and damaged three doors at their block.

Eight of them were slightly injured in the incident.

When a group of Myanmar immigrants joined the fight, all the immigrants tried to escape but could not get over the barbed-wire fencing.

It was learnt that they then started burning papers, which resulted in a bonfire that nearly razed the building. By this time, firemen had arrived but because of the delicate situation, took some time to put out the fire.

Police and Rela members defused the situation by first keeping the rioters at bay.

A stand-off ensued and after negotiations, the immigrants gave themselves up shortly after midnight. They were now being detained at a different cell block.

"This is a first at this camp," Mat Hassan said, referring to the incident, adding that security would be tightened to prevent similar incidents.

Shukri said the immigrants claimed they had been badly treated.

He did not provide any further details.

Those involved in the rioting will be deported as soon as possible.

"We have referred the case to the Vietnamese embassy and the authorities are expediting their deportation papers."