79 immigrants became U.S. citizens Thursday

by Maureen Sieh /The Post-Standard 
Friday August 21, 2009, 10:08 AM

Syracuse, NY.----Abdullahi Ibrahim has been searching for a place to call home since being forced to leave Somalia in 1991 when rebel forces raided Somali Bantu villages during Somalia's the country's bloody civil war.

For centuries, Somali Bantus were persecuted because they are a minority clan -- descendants of slaves that were taken from northern Mozambique and neighboring East African countries in the 1800s. In Somalia, they are considered second-class citizens. 

Ibrahim lived in a refugee camp in Kenya for more than 10 years before he received refugee status to come to the United States with his wife, Habiba Amir, and their two young children, Fatumo, 8, and Sidali, 7.

Thursday, Ibrahim and his two children were among 79 people who became naturalized as United States citizens during two ceremonies -- at the Onondaga County Courthouse and U.S. District Court. 

"It's nice to have proof of a nationality," said Ibrahim, 33, director of the Somali Bantu Community of Syracuse. "You can enjoy whatever opportunities are available."

The new citizens came from more than 25 countries including Bosnia, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Sudan, Vietnam, China, Korea, Canada, Philippines, Serbia, Bangladesh, Mexico and India.


Somali native Mohamed Ibrahim -- not related to Abdullahi Ibrahim -- is glad that he's now a U.S. citizen like his wife, Marian Gedow, a refugee caseworker at Catholic Charities; and their five children. Mohamed Ibrahim was separated from his family for eight years -- 1994 to 2003 -- after they fled the war in Somalia. Gedow and the children lived in Pakistan before they were accepted as refugees to come to the United States in 2000.

It was while working with other Somali refugees in Syracuse that Gedow learned her husband was in Kenya. He came to America in 2004.

"I was thinking they were alive, but I don't know where," he said. "I was surprised when she called. I didn't believe it when I received the first call."

Annet O'Mara's eyes welled up with tears as she talked about fulfilling her lifelong dream of becoming a U.S. citizen. O'Mara immigrated to America from Malaysia in 1988 to study. She met her American husband, Donald O'Mara, when she was at Harvard University.

"It's been my dream ever since I entered this country," said O'Mara, who lives in Central Square and teaches English at some colleges in the area including State University College at Oswego and Morrisville State University. "It just means I can vote, serve on the jury, run for office if I want. I'm proud to be an American."

Diego Jara, a native of Costa Rica, joined the United StatesU.S. Army seven years ago because he's always wanted to serve the country.

Jara, who is stationed at Fort Drum. said he's glad he can now say, "I'm serving my country."

"To me, it's a sense of pride," said Diego, who served in Iraq from 2007 to 2008. "It feels like I can better say that I'm serving my country, now that I'm a citizen."

Laszlo Szakali left Hungary in 1996 to work as a chef at a Hungarian restaurant in Orlando, Fla. He worked at several other restaurants before settling in Syracuse. He's a chef at the Radisson Greens golf course in Baldwinsville.

"I grew up in a communist country, and I don't want to be a socialist," said Szakali, who lives in Bridegport. "It's a good thing to be an American."

Operation against illegal immigrants

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 21 (Bernama) -- Police Friday seized five explosives, four detonators and 38 sharp weapons, including long machetes and axes, in an illegal settlement in the Bukit Kiara View jungle near Desa Sri Hartamas here.

Brickfields OCPD ACP Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid said the weapons were found during a follow-up of yesterday's operation against illegal immigrants in the area.

"We had to call off the operation at 7pm yesterday due to heavy rain. Furthermore the site is located deep in the jungle. We resumed the operation at 3pm today and found the weapons," he told reporters at the Travers police station here today.

He said the case would be investigated under the Corrosive Substances, Explosives and Dangerous Weapons Act 1958.

Thirty-eight policemen and 16 Rela personnel were involved in the operation where they carried out checked on 23 Indonesians residing in the area.

Police arrested an Indonesian man and woman who had no valid documents.

-- BERNAMA

Burmese Released from Malaysian Detention Center

Eighty Burmese migrants have been released from an immigration detention center near Kuala Lumpur International Airport with the help of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee office (UNHCR).

Yante Ismail, a spokesperson for the UNHCR in Kuala Lumpur, confirmed that the refugees and asylum-seekers were released from the detention facility on Tuesday.
In this photo taken on July 23, children detainees look out through their shelter at the Lenggeng detention center, south of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Photo:AP)


Recently, 28 detainees escaped from the detention center. Six have been rearrested by authorities. The detention center has inadequate food and water, according to sources who asked not to be identified.

There are nearly 7,000 foreigners in immigration detention centers in Malaysia. Burmese detainees number around 2,800, according to the Bangkok Post, an English-language newspaper.

In January 2009, there were 1,200 Burmese in detention centers. The number has increased to 2,800 because of a worsening economy in Burma. 

According to the Kuala Lumpur-based Burma Workers’ Rights Protection Committee, about 500,000 Burmese migrants work in Malaysia, both legally and illegally.

Man faces 35 years for alleged human smuggling

The Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- A Malaysian man faces up to 35 years in prison for smuggling 12 people from Myanmar into the country, while his two sons and their maid pleaded not guilty to the crime, an official said Friday.

The four were the latest to be charged with human trafficking since June, when the U.S. State Department marked Malaysia as one of the world's worst offenders.

Sahaidi Salleh, a jobless man, pleaded guilty to trafficking nine adults and three children from Myanmar, said Mohamad Zaidi Che Morad, an immigration official in northern Kelantan state.

Sahaidi's two sons, 19 and 21, and their maid, 25, pleaded not guilty and were expected to stand trial, he said.

Trafficking in children carries a minimum jail term of three years and maximum term of 20 years. Smuggling adults is punishable by up to 15 years in jail.

Sahaidi was imprisoned pending sentencing on Sept. 15, Mohamad Zaidi said. The other three were also jailed after failing to post bail of 11,000 ringgit ($3,100) each, he said.

The Myanmar nationals were smuggled into the country across a river from neighbouring Thailand, Mohamad Zaidi said.

The group, including five ethnic Rohingyas and two ethnic Chin, were rescued from Sahaidi's house in Kelantan on Aug. 9 and are now staying in a shelter. They will not be charged with entering Malaysia illegally because they are considered victims of human trafficking. The youngest child is 2.

Mohamad Zaidi said investigations revealed they paid up to 2,000 ringgit ($570) each for the journey from Myanmar to Malaysia. Saihaidi received up to 500 ringgit ($141) per migrant.

"We're still trying to investigate. It's a wide connection ... It's transnational," Mohamad Zaidi said, adding it was difficult to go after human traffickers in Thailand and Myanmar. He said the network also involved express bus operators in Malaysia who ferry the illegals.

The United States is reviewing Malaysia's efforts to fight human trafficking until October after it gave the Southeast Asian country a low ranking in this year's "Trafficking in Persons Report."

Activists estimate that hundreds of thousands of people from Myanmar live illegally in Malaysia in addition to 140,000 legal Myanmar migrant workers. The United Nations refugee agency recognizes 43,500 as refugees. Many of those are Chin and Rohingya, who face discrimination in their home country because of their ethnicity and religion.

Treatment of asylum seekers in Thailand & Malaysia

In this photo taken on July 23, children detainees look out through their shelter at the Lenggeng detention center, south of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Photo:AP)

August 21, 2009 – 10:28 am, by Andrew Bartlett 

I’ve written recently about the Australian government recent efforts to enlist further support from countries to our north in stifling the activities of people smugglers.

Reports continue to appear of dreadful conditions and treatment of refugees and asylum seekers in those same countries, such as Malaysia and Thailand.

Another recent example, reported in the Bangkok-based newspaper, The Nation, detailed here on The Irrawaddy website, is the death of two young Burmese Rohingya ‘migrants’, aged 15 and 19 in a Thai detention camp. There were among 55 Rohingyas held in the camp. In a further example of the complete absence of interest in genuinely assisting potential refugees, the UNHCR (the UN refugee agency) is being denied access to the camp.

“We have asked the Thai government many times for access there. We told the Thai government that we are ready to help them [the detained migrants]. We want to know what their protection needs are. But we are not getting access.”


The Bangkok Post later reported that the Rohingya asylum seekers were subsequently shifted to a detention centre in Bangkok.

The article makes it pretty clear that the Thai authorities see this solely as an issue of ‘illegal migration’, not an issue of asylum seekers or human rights. The photo and reports accompanying the article gives some indication that the facilities the asylum seekers are being kept in is far from satisfactory.

The Australian government has recently started resettling some Burmese Rohingya refugees. The persecution and danger they are subjected to is very well documented, and many of those recently being resettled in Australia have been in refugee camps in Bangladesh for fifteen years or more.

The factors the Australian government has to balance in its efforts to work on this issue with neighbouring countries are difficult and complex.

But the simple fact remains that refugees only use people smugglers when there are no other viable options to reach safety and security from persecution. Cracking down on smugglers while doing nothing to create viable pathways for refugees will just make things more difficult for refugees, including a probable increase in suffering, dangers and cost.

ADDENDUM: According to this report I just found - also from the Irrawaddy:

Eighty Burmese migrants have been released from an immigration detention center near Kuala Lumpur International Airport with the help of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee office (UNHCR).

Yante Ismail, a spokesperson for the UNHCR in Kuala Lumpur, confirmed that the refugees and asylum-seekers were released from the detention facility on Tuesday.

Recently, 28 detainees escaped from the detention center. Six have been rearrested by authorities. The detention center has inadequate food and water, according to sources who asked not to be identified.

There are nearly 7,000 foreigners in immigration detention centers in Malaysia. Burmese detainees number around 2,800, according to the Bangkok Post, an English-language newspaper.


(the vast majority of the Burmese (some of who would have come from living for years in camps in Bangaldesh) would be asylum seekers)

Refugee from Myanmar beaten to death

Our Correspondent, Bandarban

An indigenous youth beat a Myanmar refugee enlisted with the United Nation High Commission for Refugee (UNHCR) to death at Madhyampara in Bandarban district town last night. 

Police said the victim Swe Mong, 60, was waiting for tea at a restaurant near his house when Sa Hla Mong suddenly attacked him with a wooden stick. He kept beating Swe till he died.

Just after the incident, police arrested Sa Hla Mong with the help of locals. 

Police later sent Swe's body to Bandarban Sadar Hospital for autopsy.

The victim's relatives said Swe Mong was a guerrilla fighter of National United Party of Arakan (NUPA), a revolutionary group fighting against the military dictatorship in Myanmar. After the NUPA divided over some issues in 2005, he became a think tank member supporting the independence of Arakan state.

Swe Mong used to live in a rented thatched house in Maddhyampara with his wife and daughter, added his relatives.

The motive behind the killing is yet to be unearthed. However, locals doubted that his detachment from the party might be one of the reasons.

UNHCR Representative Khaing Mrat Kyaw and some other officials reached Bandarban to receive the body yesterday.

The UNHCR representative told The Daily Star that they would not take the incident lightly.

He expressed surprise on how an UNHCR refugee could be killed in public. He said they would make comment on the incident after receiving the autopsy and police report.

No soap, no space, no bedding: Myanmar migrants stuck in crowded Malaysia detention camps

Myanmar migrants stuck in Malaysia detention camps

SEPANG, Malaysia — A growing number of immigrants from Myanmar are ending up stuck, often for months, in crowded detention centers in Malaysia designed to hold people for only a few weeks.


Almost 2,800 Myanmarese were detained at camps in July, more than double the 1,200 in January, partly because of a crackdown on human trafficking, a step-up in raids and a slow economy that leaves the migrants without jobs. People from Myanmar, a desperately poor country with a military junta, are now the biggest group among the 7,000 foreigners at detention centers in Malaysia.

At a center near the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, some 120 men sat in neat rows on the floor. Many had their legs drawn to their chests, and all were barefoot. There was not enough space and not enough bedding.

“There is no soap for taking a shower, nothing. They don’t give us anything,” said Kyaw Zin Lin, 23, who said he fled to avoid being drafted into the Myanmar army. “Every day we eat the food just to survive. … They treat us like animals.”

“It’s very difficult to stay here,” said Aung Kuh The, a pale 26-year-old. “We have got a lot of problems. Some people, you know, we want to see the doctor but we don’t have the chance.”

One reason for the rise in detainees is a crackdown on trafficking. A report published in April by the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations cited firsthand accounts of Myanmarese who said immigration officers turned them over to traffickers.

That practice has all but stopped, Myanmar community leaders in Malaysia say.

Now, though, the Myanmarese are trapped in detention. The Myanmar embassy often takes six months to register its citizens for deportation and charges them 620 ringgit ($180), much more than neighboring Indonesia. By contrast, detainees from other countries are typically deported within a week.

Calls to the Myanmar embassy were repeatedly put on hold and then unanswered.

About half the Myanmarese — those fleeing persecution — may qualify for U.N. refugee status, but that process takes up to four months. The others are economic migrants. Some 140,000 Myanmarese work in Malaysia, but foreign workers who are laid off lose the right to stay.

Some Myanmarese have spent more than six months in crowded, dirty detention centers. One man, whose brother was in detention for four months, said he would rather be sold to traffickers from whom he could buy his freedom.

“I prefer to be trafficked,” said the man, who would only be identified by his nickname, Ryan, to protect his relatives in Myanmar. “I don’t mind paying 2,000 ringgit ($570).”

Five of Malaysia’s 13 detention centers are overcrowded; four of the five have large Myanmarese populations, according to the immigration department. Journalists from The Associated Press accompanied the human rights group Amnesty International on a rare visit recently to three detention centers just south of Kuala Lumpur, the country’s biggest city.

At the Lenggeng Detention Depot, 1,400 people are crammed into dormitories meant for 1,200. Of them about 300 are from Myanmar.

Hundreds of men jostle each other for room in the bare dormitories. One sleeps on a stone ledge in a bathroom. Each dormitory is fenced by wire mesh and barbed wire, giving detainees just a few meters (feet) of space for walking.

“The detention centers we saw fell short of international standards in many respects, as the immigration authorities themselves acknowledge,” said Michael Bochenek of Amnesty International. “It’s a facility of such size that infectious diseases are communicated readily.”

Saw Pho Tun, a refugee community leader, said some immigration officers have singled out Myanmarese detainees for rough treatment, beating them and not allowing them medical assistance. Immigration officials deny beating detainees and say everyone has access to medical care.

On July 1, detainees at another center flung their food trays and damaged some of the mesh fence. Immigration officials blamed the riot on frustration about having to stay so long, but detainees say they rioted because they were afraid of abuse.

Most of the blocks have now been shut for repairs, so more than 1,000 detainees — including 700 from Myanmar — were transferred ot other already crowded centers.

Abdul Rahman Othman, the director general of the Immigration Department, said he was taking steps to prevent his officers from being “entangled” in trafficking syndicates. He said officers would be rotated to different posts every three years and have a buddy system to supervise each other.

“Ninety-nine percent of us in immigration are good people,” he said, denying the problem is widespread.

Police arrested five officers on trafficking allegations last month. They say their investigations revealed immigration officials took Myanmar immigrants to the Thai border and sold them for up to 600 ringgit ($170) to traffickers. The traffickers then told the migrants to pay 2,000 ringgit ($570) for their freedom, or they would be forced to work in the fishing industry, police said.

Myanmar community leaders said women who failed to pay were sold into prostitution.

Refugee families hide as their men build skyscrapers

Marcury STAFF
GUELPH

"If the military rulers weren't enough, now it's nature making life impossible for the people," Salai Chitu said in a recent interview.
He lives with Chin's refugees in Malaysia for five years.
An incident six months ago left him particularly rattled.
He took a mother -- a refugee -- and her six-day-old baby to hospital for an important vaccination.
Instead of finding help, the mother and her baby landed in prison as illegal refugees.
It's one example of the condition of an estimated 70,000 Myanmar refugees in Malaysia, Salai Chitu said on a visit to family in Guelph.
Almost half are the Chin people, who along with other ethnic groups from Myanmar -- Salai Chitu prefers to call his old country Burma instead of Myanmar -- find themselves persecuted by military rulers in both countries.
Malaysia is not a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention and does not recognize refugees.
In Thailand and India, refugees live in camps. In Malaysia, they hide in jungles.
Salai Chitu, 25, said they live a nightmare. He was a refugee himself.
After fleeing Myanmar in 2002, he lived in Malaysia as an illegal immigrant for five years. He was arrested and deported to Thailand. From Thailand, he applied to come to Canada.
"I always knew I would go back," he said. "I know what these people go through because I've lived that life and I know how tough it is."
He said Malaysia isn't a safe place for refugees, but they still choose to live there because they can work on hundreds of construction sites where cheap labour is in demand.
There,Salai Chitu said, they are exploited and persecuted.
Malaysia, which shares its border with Thailand, not Myanmar, is experiencing an economic boom. Refugee families hide in forests while the men build skyscrapers.
Safe by comparison with the jungles of Malaysia, the overcrowded camps in Thailand run short of food and medical care.
Refugees hiding in the forests of western Malaysia, meanwhile, live in huts that are washed away regularly by torrential rains.
They eat what they can get from the forest. When they have money, they buy food and eat it sparingly.
The volunteers secretly go deep into the forests to help. The fact that refugees tend to be scattered makes their work that much more difficult.
Refugees "figure if they live together, they'll be easy to spot," Salai Chitu said.
The volunteers get food, medicine and clothes to them.
They also tend to people who are ailing, or who've been injured at work. Unless it's an absolute emergency, refugees don't go to hospitals.
"If they do, they get arrested for being illegal immigrants," Salai Chitu said.
They languish in prison or are deported to Thailand. Many are turned away from camps and end up sneaking back into Malaysia.
Many want to apply to come to Canada or other countries but either lack required documents or are deterred by long waiting periods. Refugees are caught in a vicious circle in Malaysia, said Salai Chitu. They can't apply to come to Canada unless they do it through the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.
The commission has no office in Malaysia.
Canada accepted 120 Myanmar refugees from Malaysia last year and 2,500 from Thailand.
This year, Canada is accepting 140 from Malaysia. It's a drop in the ocean, Salai Chitu said.
"There are 80,000 (refugees) in Malaysia. They have no life, nothing at all. And there's no hope for anything better, ever, if other countries don't take in refugees."
So, in the absence of much hope in the future, Salai Chitu tries to help the refugees make the most of the present.
"I've lived that life and I know how bad it is. As volunteers, we help them a bit. If we leave, they'll either die of starvation or some illness."

"There's a shortage of everything, but they're as fine as they can be."

"More than 50 people arrest on Saturday and Sunday"

VOCR 15 August, 2009

On 15 August, the police without uniform raided Jalan Imbi and more than 7 people were arrested. The raid started at 3: 15 evening and many of the chin refugees were fled to hide in another place. On 16 August, Sunday evening, when the chin refugees were their way home from the church the police and CID were started to raid among them and around 50 people were arrested. At the same time, the police also raid Jalan Pudu where the Alliance of Chin Refugee office (ACR) located but we cannot confirm how many people were arrested in PUDU. They were taken to Bukit Jali lock-up. According to one of volunteer worker in Chin refugee office said that just we received a call and saying the police are raiding Jalan Imbi, the Chin Refugee Committee informed all the people in the office not to go out and they waited until the raid finished.

“After the raid finished one of community leader went to the police station and trying to intervene for their release but he failed because of private intervention. The private intruders had already promise with the police to fine the money for only their relative , so the police officer ignored demanding of a community leader. In previous time, we could release some detainees but today, we can not do nothing. I feel very sad for the people who are under arrested. We hope that the thing will go as usual in previous time but we failed everything because of private intruders” he said.

“We don’t know the reason why the police arrest those who have UNHCR card! Jalan Imbi is a place where the chin refugee office located and many of Chin refugees are staying. The raid is not only one time they had already raided many times before” one refugee man said.

Regarding to arrest and detention, one interpreter from the UNHCR office said that the Malaysia authority do not allow the UNHCR team to meet and register Burmese refugees in the jail, immigration camp and lock-up during fasting month that will be started on next month.

Refugees International President, Ken Bacon, has died

Posted by acorcoran on August 17, 2009

I have written very critically about Ken Bacon on these pages and at first thought it might not even be appropriate to write about him after his untimely death from cancer, but since the Washington Post has opened the can of worms, I’ll tell you what the WaPo says.

Kenneth H. Bacon, 64, a former Wall Street Journal reporter who was top spokesman at the Pentagon during the Clinton administration and later became a prominent advocate on behalf of international refugees, died Aug. 15 of melanoma at his vacation home on Block Island, R.I. His primary residence was in Washington.

[....]

After leaving the Pentagon in 2001, Mr. Bacon became president of the D.C.-based advocacy group Refugees International and emerged as one of the strongest voices for the dispossessed around the globe. His organization, which accepts no funding from governments or the United Nations, estimates that there are 12 million international refugees.

Faithful readers of RRW will be interested to note that he too has the Columbia University connection.

He received dual master’s degrees, in business administration and journalism, from Columbia University in 1968.

The Washington Post calls it his only ‘blemish’ but in my opinion it suggests a major character flaw. Bacon, by his illegal act of releasing Linda Tripp’s personel file at the Defense Department during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, with that one move directed the media dogs off Bill Clinton’s porch and onto ordinary citizen Tripp’s front yard. Bacon obviously also understood Alinsky’s admonition to pick a target and destroy it.

The one blemish in Mr. Bacon’s career came in 1998, when he was briefly embroiled in the scandal surrounding President Bill Clinton and onetime White House intern Monica Lewinsky. In 1996 and 1997, Lewinsky was an assistant in Mr. Bacon’s office at the Pentagon. One of her friends was an employee in the department, Linda Tripp, who had tape-recorded telephone conversations in which Lewinsky said she was having an affair with Clinton.

In March 1998, Mr. Bacon authorized a deputy to release parts of Tripp’s personnel record to a reporter from the New Yorker magazine, revealing that Tripp had not disclosed on an employment application that she had been arrested for theft when she was 19. The charge was reduced to loitering.

The episode touched off a firestorm in conservative circles, as critics accused Mr. Bacon of breaking federal privacy laws to damage Tripp’s reputation. He quickly admitted he had handled the situation poorly, and a Pentagon inspector general concluded in 2000 that Mr. Bacon had not followed Defense Department procedures. Then-Defense Secretary Cohen sent Mr. Bacon a letter expressing “disappointment” over his “hasty and ill-conceived” actions. [Note that Bacon must never have expressed remorse, or apologized to Tripp or surely the WaPo would have mentioned that.]

Despite that incident, Cohen said in an interview with The Washington Post last week, Mr. Bacon “was always extraordinarily well prepared.” ["well prepared?" sounds like a rather weak comment.]

“He was a special guy,” Cohen added. “But for that Linda Tripp issue, I have nothing but accolades.”

Here is what Hillary Clinton said about Bacon (who saved her husband’s bacon, clever huh!) on learning of his death.  

The United States and the world lost a great humanitarian leader with the passing today of Ken Bacon, President of Refugees International. Most Americans remember Ken as the unflappable civilian voice of the Department of Defense, where he served with distinction as spokesperson for many years. But for millions of the world’s most vulnerable people – refugees and other victims of conflict – Ken was an invaluable source of hope, inspiration and support. From Central Africa to South Asia to the Americas, Ken shone the spotlight on the causes of humanitarian suffering, and served as an impassioned yet reasoned advocate for the principles of humanitarian protection and assistance. We will miss Ken, but we will be inspired by the contributions he has made and the example he has set.

What do we know about Refugees International? The organization Bacon headed is a lobbying shop advocating among other things for more refugees to be brought to the US. I have suggested in past posts that they have been predisposed to promoting resettlement of Muslim refugees as they lobbied for both Iraqi Palestinians and Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar. 

They aren’t government funded like so many other non-profits in the same field, but I have not been able to figure out who does fund them. Although we know it’s mostly individuals and foundations, who exactly they are, I don’t know. We do know that George Soros was previously on the Board of Directors, so that might be a hint where some of their funding originates. I note today that their website “partners” page is blank.

Here is their 2007 Form 990 where you can see how they spent their money and who they employ. Their Chairman of the Board is Muslim activist Farooq Kathwari (also CEO of Ethan Allen Furniture).

Ministers step in to halt Myanmar deportation Van Loan, Kenney intervene to protect 'one of the lucky few who have managed to escape the nightmare

Campbell Clark

Ottawa — From Tuesday's Globe and Mail 
Last updated on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009 03:00AM EDT


Canada's official position is that Myanmar is run by an "odious regime." But two cabinet ministers had to intervene at the 11th hour to stop a failed refugee claimant from being shipped back there.

Now, politicians, activists and lawyers are wondering why Canada - which does not deport people to countries like Zimbabwe or Haiti - would even consider sending people into the hands of the famously repressive junta in Myanmar, formerly Burma.

"The regime there is so irrational and vindictive that it's not safe to send anyone back there," said Liberal MP Larry Bagnell, chairman of the multiparty Parliamentary Friends of Burma.

Nay Myo Hein, 25, was about to be returned to Myanmar because the Immigration and Refugee Board did not believe his claim that he was abducted at 12 and forced into service as a child soldier.

The Canada Border Services Agency, and then a Federal Court judge, ruled that despite his involvement in protests against the Myanmar regime while living in Saskatoon since 2007, he would not be in danger if sent home.

On the weekend, two federal cabinet ministers - both vocal critics of the Myanmar regime - intervened: Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan halted the deportation, and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney gave Nay Myo Hein a permit to stay in Canada.

They judged that even if he wasn't a child soldier, his involvement in protests in Canada against the junta would place him in jeopardy if he were sent home.

"In taking these steps, our Conservative government is protecting one of the lucky few who have managed to escape the nightmare that is Burma," said Mr. Kenney's spokesman, Alykhan Velshi.

Child soldier got reprieve, but others still being deported to Myanmar

By Jason Warick, Saskatoon StarPhoenixAugust 18, 2009
 
 

SASKATOON — A former child soldier escaped deportation from Saskatchewan to Myanmar over the weekend due to the last-minute intervention of a pair of federal government ministers — but more than a dozen others facing the same fate have not been so fortunate.


An official with the Canadian Border Services Agency has told the Saskatoon StarPhoenix that 13 refugee claimants over the past five years have been deported to Myanmar, also known as Burma.


In an e-mail Monday, Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said a blanket suspension of deportations to Burma is “not warranted.”


The number deported alarmed the group Canadian Friends of Burma, which said it was not aware anyone was being sent back to live under a military regime repeatedly condemned by Canada and other nations.


“We had no idea. Hearing that is quite shocking, quite disturbing,” board member Kevin McLeod said.


“We don’t think anyone should be deported to Burma. It is an arbitrary, unfair place.”


Nay Myo Hein says he was coerced into the Burmese military at age 12, but had no appetite for the work and eventually fled the country. 


He escaped to Canada three years ago and was living in Saskatoon, but had his appeal for refugee status rejected by three separate hearings. He was set to be deported Tuesday, before federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan personally reviewed his case and intervened.


On Sunday, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney said it would not be safe to send Hein back to Burma, in part because of the large amounts of publicity the case generated. The regime may have taken note and targeted him because of it, Kenney said.


“We wouldn’t want to return someone to face persecution or punishment. It is a chance we were not prepared to take,” Kenney said.


The Canadian Friends of Burma, Amnesty International’s Canadian section, and others, have said Hein would have been jailed, tortured or executed if returned.


Van Loan, who is responsible for the Canadian Border Services Agency, said in his e-mail the Canadian government “has been clear and consistent in condemning the Burmese regime for its repressive actions.”


Van Loan said the issue of deportation to Myanmar “is always under consideration,” but there are no plans to place the country on Canada’s “temporary suspension of removals” list.


“There are many situations where potential political persecution is not a risk. As such, a blanket temporary suspension of removals is not warranted,” Van Loan said.


“While removal of some individuals to Burma would be unsafe, those cases can be dealt with on an individual basis.”

Myanmar migrants stuck in Malaysia detention camps

 

SEPANG, Malaysia (AP) — A growing number of immigrants from Myanmar are ending up stuck, often for months, in crowded detention centers in Malaysia designed to hold people for only a few weeks. 

Almost 2,800 Myanmarese were detained at camps in July, more than double the 1,200 in January, partly because of a crackdown on human trafficking, a step-up in raids and a slow economy that leaves the migrants without jobs. People from Myanmar, a desperately poor country with a military junta, are now the biggest group among the 7,000 foreigners at detention centers in Malaysia.

At a center near the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, some 120 men sat in neat rows on the floor. Many had their legs drawn to their chests, and all were barefoot. There was not enough space and not enough bedding.

"There is no soap for taking a shower, nothing. They don't give us anything," said Kyaw Zin Lin, 23, who said he fled to avoid being drafted into the Myanmar army. "Every day we eat the food just to survive. ... They treat us like animals."

"It's very difficult to stay here," said Aung Kuh The, a pale 26-year-old. "We have got a lot of problems. Some people, you know, we want to see the doctor but we don't have the chance."

One reason for the rise in detainees is a crackdown on trafficking. A report published in April by the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations cited firsthand accounts of Myanmarese who said immigration officers turned them over to traffickers.

That practice has all but stopped, Myanmar community leaders in Malaysia say.

Now, though, the Myanmarese are trapped in detention. The Myanmar embassy often takes six months to register its citizens for deportation and charges them 620 ringgit ($180), much more than neighboring Indonesia. By contrast, detainees from other countries are typically deported within a week.

Calls to the Myanmar embassy were repeatedly put on hold and then unanswered.
connections
United Nations

About half the Myanmarese — those fleeing persecution — may qualify for U.N. refugee status, but that process takes up to four months. The others are economic migrants. Some 140,000 Myanmarese work in Malaysia, but foreign workers who are laid off lose the right to stay.

Some Myanmarese have spent more than six months in crowded, dirty detention centers. One man, whose brother was in detention for four months, said he would rather be sold to traffickers from whom he could buy his freedom.

"I prefer to be trafficked," said the man, who would only be identified by his nickname, Ryan, to protect his relatives in Myanmar. "I don't mind paying 2,000 ringgit ($570)."

Five of Malaysia's 13 detention centers are overcrowded; four of the five have large Myanmarese populations, according to the immigration department. Journalists from The Associated Press accompanied the human rights group Amnesty International on a rare visit recently to three detention centers just south of Kuala Lumpur, the country's biggest city.

At the Lenggeng Detention Depot, 1,400 people are crammed into dormitories meant for 1,200. Of them about 300 are from Myanmar.

Hundreds of men jostle each other for room in the bare dormitories. One sleeps on a stone ledge in a bathroom. Each dormitory is fenced by wire mesh and barbed wire, giving detainees just a few meters (feet) of space for walking.

"The detention centers we saw fell short of international standards in many respects, as the immigration authorities themselves acknowledge," said Michael Bochenek of Amnesty International. "It's a facility of such size that infectious diseases are communicated readily."

Saw Pho Tun, a refugee community leader, said some immigration officers have singled out Myanmarese detainees for rough treatment, beating them and not allowing them medical assistance. Immigration officials deny beating detainees and say everyone has access to medical care.

On July 1, detainees at another center flung their food trays and damaged some of the mesh fence. Immigration officials blamed the riot on frustration about having to stay so long, but detainees say they rioted because they were afraid of abuse.

Most of the blocks have now been shut for repairs, so more than 1,000 detainees — including 700 from Myanmar — were transferred ot other already crowded centers.

Abdul Rahman Othman, the director general of the Immigration Department, said he was taking steps to prevent his officers from being "entangled" in trafficking syndicates. He said officers would be rotated to different posts every three years and have a buddy system to supervise each other.

"Ninety-nine percent of us in immigration are good people," he said, denying the problem is widespread.

Police arrested five officers on trafficking allegations last month. They say their investigations revealed immigration officials took Myanmar immigrants to the Thai border and sold them for up to 600 ringgit ($170) to traffickers. The traffickers then told the migrants to pay 2,000 ringgit ($570) for their freedom, or they would be forced to work in the fishing industry, police said.

Myanmar community leaders said women who failed to pay were sold into prostitution.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Najib stirs unease with plan to expand Rela policing

KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 — Plans by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to deploy a controversial volunteer civilian corps to curb escalating crime are ringing alarm bells with human rights activists and opposition lawmakers.

They say deploying armed, untrained Rela members, who number about 700,000, to fight crime could lead to "massive" rights violations.

"Rela is not an enforcement agency like the police. It is a voluntary body and completely unsuitable to enforce the law and battle crime on the streets," said Irene Fernandez, the executive director of Tenaganita, an NGO that champions migrant workers.

"Human rights violations and assaults and robberies against foreign migrant workers all shot up when Rela was deployed against them in 2007.

"They are ordinary people like office workers and the power goes to their heads. They became a vigilante corps. Using Rela for policing is unsafe and a danger to the public."

Rela was originally created to provide village security. Najib said on Monday that Rela would be "upgraded and trained" to tackle crime.

He also said 600 surveillance cameras would be installed in the capital and police equipment upgraded to fight crime. But it is the readiness to use Rela that is hotly disputed.

Home Ministry officials yesterday were unclear what kind of training Rela members would get before deployment on the streets.

"Our plan is for Rela to assist police, not replace the police," an official said. "The areas of co-operation and the procedures and methods involved are being worked out."

He dismissed widespread earlier criticism of Rela as an "unruly" vigilante-type body abusing and mistreating migrant workers.

Rela volunteers, mostly office workers and civil servants, originally helped police manage crowds at big sports and religious events. In 2007, the government amended the law and gave Rela members powers to stop, search and arrest civilians. Rela officers were also issued with guns during anti-migrant operations.

Rela was used to seek out and arrest illegal migrant workers, and members were paid RM80 for each person arrested.

"Overnight, cases of mistreatment, assault and robbery shot up," said Enalini Elumalai, a senior officer with rights group Suaram.

In 2007, Rela was in the spotlight for arresting and roughing up the wife of an Indonesian diplomat.

Others who alleged abuse included foreign students, Chinese nationals arrested on suspicion of being prostitutes, and Indian information technology expatriates mistaken for illegal immigrants. "It was blatant racial profiling," Fernandez said.

The government then decreed that police officers had to accompany Rela members during operations.

The authorities see Rela as a cheap alternative to the 96,000-member police force.

In May, the government released statistics showing a steady increase of all types of crime, especially robbery.

A Home Ministry poll found 95 per cent of 9,000 respondents felt unsafe and 90 per cent blamed police for not doing enough.

A parliamentary conference on crime yesterday said the situation had reached "intolerable levels", and lawmakers demanded the immediate resignation of the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan.

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, who convened the conference, said: "Using the untrained and unqualified Rela for policing is a dangerous step backwards." — South China Morning Post

Burmese refugee in Malaysia loses job, girlfriend and hope | Worldfocus

Burmese refugee in Malaysia loses job, girlfriend and hope | Worldfocus

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The Plight of Refugees In Malaysia

The author wrote a small piece to inform the public of the plight of refugees in Malaysia while referring to a few international reports, surveys and publications. The article was edited down owing to space constraints before being sent to the local press. It was published in the on July 23, 2009. This is the full article.

We have refugees in Malaysia. This is a fact. As Malaysians, we cannot turn a blind eye.

But what exactly is a refugee? The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (the Convention) is a body of international law approved by the United Nations which defines a refugee 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, owing to such fear, to avail himself of the protection of that country (Article 1 of the Convention).

A “refugee” is not an “economic migrant”. An economic immigrant is a person who has left his country seeking a better life and could always return back to live peacefully. If caught without travel documents here, he would then be subjected to Malaysia’s immigration laws and would be 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 1951 Convention outlines the rights of a refugee and has been signed by 147 countries. Malaysia is not a signatory.

Section 6 of the Malaysian Immigration Act 1959/63 imposes a term of imprisonment not exceeding 5 years and whipping for anyone caught without an entry permit while Section 32 of the same Act allows for deportation of those convicted under Section 6.

It is in this regard that Malaysia continues to arrest refugees under its immigration laws and deport them back.

This is a draconian if not unnecessary punishment for someone escaping persecution. Penalties afforded by the law should 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) began it operations in the 1970’s during the arrival of the Vietnamese refugees who were escaping persecution in Vietnam.

UNHCR conducts all activities related to the registration, documentation and status determination of asylum-seekers and refugees in Malaysia. This entails an interview and investigative process that thoroughly assesses 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. A refugee is defined according to the Convention. It should be stressed that identity cards are not issued indiscriminately but all applications are subjected to a thorough investigative process.

To date, the UNHCR has registered more than 45,000 persons of concern consisting of Burmese, Sri Lankans, Iraqis, Somalis and Afghans. The Burmese tally the highest as most flee the repressive Burmese military junta (http://www.unhcr.org.my/cms/basic-facts/statistics).

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 refugees in Malaysia; refugees have to scrounge for jobs, they suffer abuse by employers, many are victims of robberies, men are beaten, women are raped and children displaced. They have no legal standing in this country and therefore no recourse to the law.

The Federal Court in Government Of Malaysia & Ors v. Loh Wai Kong [1979] 2 MLJ 33 held that Article 5(3) of the Federal Constitution does indeed apply to non-citizens when arrested - that they be informed of the grounds of arrest and be allowed to consult a lawyer - this is unfortunately never adhered to by arresting parties i.e. Immigration Department officials and RELA.

As reported by the Star (February 8, 2009), the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee highlighted early this year that Malaysian immigration officials are themselves complicit in the “sale” of people to traffickers.

A report submitted to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee in April 2009 by US Senator Richard Lugar entitled “Trafficking and Extortion of Burmese Migrants in Malaysia and Southern Thailand” details human trafficking in Malaysia. Refugees are often arrested and detained even if they possess a UNHCR card and are later taken by Malaysian Government personnel from detention facilities to the Malaysia-Thailand border for deportation.

The report states that upon arrival in the border, traffickers seize deportees and issue ransom demands. Freedom is only possible upon the meeting of these demands. The report adds that those unable to pay are sold off to human peddlers in Thailand; enduring forced labour in fishing boats or brothels.

The 2009 World Refugee Survey lists Malaysia together with South Africa and Gaza as the “Worst Places for Refugees”. The Amnesty International Report 2009 on the State of the World’s Human Rights comments on the beatings succumbed by refugees and the deplorable conditions at our immigration centres.

These findings have brought Malaysia into significant disrepute. We cannot continue to label ourselves as “Malaysia, Truly Asia” while hypocritically engaging in vile and inhumane acts against our Asian neighbours.

Such disgusting behaviour is indeed highly unbecoming of a nation that wants to be a first world country in line with its “Vision 2020′” We have to put all the rhetoric aside and learn to radiate the humanness within our hearts.

The Government 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 but implementation has been pathetic. Prosecution is slim and there is still no recognition for refugees. In fact, Section 54(3) of the said Act permits the immigration department to return trafficked persons to their country of origin, violating the principle of non-refoulement.

The Sabah Daily Express (March 12, 2007) reported the then Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar saying, “If we recognise refugees, we could open the floodgates and encourage them to come here just to escape economic hardship in their own country”. While being completely ignorant to who a refugee is, the Malaysian Government has yet again shown great apathy, immaturity and self-centeredness in dealing with humanitarian and international crises.

I certainly hope this isn’t a reflection of the Malaysian conscience.

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

“Transparency” is essential to raising awareness; the more Malaysians know how refugees are treated in detention centres and the courts, the louder our support for them will be. Media access to immigration courts must at all times be unhindered in line with Section 101 of the Subordinate Courts Act 1948 and Section 7 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

We must also be mindful and ethical in our dealings with foreign powers. The May 2008 edition of the New Internationalist magazine reports that Burmese generals have stashed their loot in Malaysia. This must be investigated immediately for if it were to be true then we, Malaysians, are complicit in the suffering of the Burmese people.

We are fortunate to be Malaysians and have a Constitution that guarantees all 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.

Source :

http://loyarburok.com/human-rights/nowhere-to-run-human-rights/on-refugees/

Burmese refugee in Malaysia loses job, girlfriend and hope

Last week, authorities in Malaysia announced that they arrested five immigration officers for rounding up illegal immigrants from Myanmar and selling them to human traffickers.

Karen Zusman, an independent journalist, recently returned from Malaysia, where she reported on the plight of Burmese refugees.

In Malaysia refuses to recognize Burmese as refugees, she recounted the story of “Jack” — a Burmese refugee in Malaysia whose girlfriend, brother and friend had been rounded up by immigration officials and put in detention camps.

In this audio interview, she catches up with Jack about recent developments in Malaysia. His girlfriend has been deported to Myanmar to marry a soldier, his brother remains in a detention camp and his friend “John” has been released, but faces an uncertain future.

Jack yearns for a brighter future, but has himself lost his job. Though he has a UNHCR refugee card, he still fears the police and has nowhere to turn. Above, listen to Karen Zusman’s interview, edited by Katie Combs.

Source :

http://worldfocus.org/blog/2009/07/29/burmese-refugee-in-malaysia-loses-job-girlfriend-and-hope/6528/

Malaysia To Deploy Controversial Corps In Crime Fight

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP)--Malaysia's plan to deploy personnel from a notorious volunteer task force to help enforce a crackdown on crime triggered criticism Thursday from human rights campaigners.

The New Straits Times said the home ministry had enlisted 254 members from the Civil Defence Department and RELA, a 553,000-strong citizen corps that has been accused of serious rights abuses.

The report described the personnel as the "cream of the crop" and said they were undergoing a two-week training program before being assigned to crime hot spots next month.

However, rights groups said that RELA officers were unsuited to the task, and called for the closure of the unit that has been accused of violence and extortion, particularly against suspected illegal migrants.

"They shouldn't be given enforcement power because they are volunteers - they are not trained, and have no background in law or how to handle criminals," said Temme Lee from leading rights watchdog Suaram.

"We have made it clear from the beginning that RELA should be disbanded and the use of RELA corps with barely any training in law and enforcement will lead to more rights abuses," she told AFP.

Amnesty International Malaysia also spoke out against the plan.

"Why don't we hire more police instead? We should stop this temporary measure, " said its Malaysia executive director Nora Murat.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch has accused RELA of harassing and abusing foreigners and said it was responsible for numerous cases of illegal detention.

Prime Minister Najib this week announced a plan to cut crime by 20%, as part of a raft of populist measures.

Spiralling street crime, including violent muggings, is a major concern for Malaysians, according to opinion polls.

RELA's uniformed volunteers have legal immunity and are allowed to arrest individuals as well as enter and search any premises without a warrant.

The force was established in 1972 under the home affairs ministry to help maintain public order. Its name is an acronym for People's Volunteer Corps in the Malay language.

Govt action or inaction?

Recognising this unfortunate surge, on 27 July 2009, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that the government wanted to reduce street crime by 20% before the end of 2010. Planned measures include the strengthening of auxiliary bodies such as the People's Volunteer Corps (Rela), and the installation of additional closed circuit television cameras (CCTVs).

But what would these measures result in? Rather than keeping us safe, they could very well end up endangering Malaysians more. Rela, after all, has acquired a reputation in recent decades for human rights abuses, especially towards immigrant populations.

Speaking at the 28 July roundtable, Centre for Policy Initiatives (CPI) director Dr Lim Teik Ghee cautioned that he was sure that Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein would work hard towards fulfilling the government's new targets — at any cost. "I'm worried that there will be major violations of human rights to bring about better security," Lim said.

Instead of debating the government's stop-gap crime-fighting measures, all roundtable speakers agreed that wider reforms of the police force were needed.

The public's growing deep distrust of law enforcement may be due to the perception that the police are not impartial tools of the Barisan Nasional government. Indeed, the police force does appear partial to serving the interest of the BN — from its role in the Perak takeover to the arbitrary arrest of Malaysians peacefully protesting against the BN.

Most recently, on 27 July evening, police officers even prevented a screening of the film Gadoh at Kg Buah Pala, Penang. They did this on the grounds that the local residents association had organised an "illegal gathering", and because the movie was "controversial".

Source : The Nut Graph

US view on human trafficking in Msia ‘a fair account’

KUALA LUMPUR: The US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report 2009 that downgraded Malaysia to the Tier 3 Watch List is a fair account of Malaysia’s “limited efforts” in trying to stem human trafficking, says a human rights activist.

“It is especially true in relation to labour trafficking, which is a form of slavery.

“Civil society has brought up this problem many times in dialogues with Suhakam (the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia) and the Bar Council,” said Tenaganita director Dr Irene Fernandez.

“We have also had roundtable discussions with the government agencies but nothing has moved,” she said on Wednesday when asked to comment on the 324-page TIP report released in the United States on Tuesday that warned that those on the Watch List might face US sanctions.

Tier 3 countries are those whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.

Listed with Malaysia are Burma (Myanmar), Chad, Cuba, Eritrea, Fiji, Iran, Kuwait, Mauritania, the Republic of Niger, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Zimbabwe.

The TIP Report states that, as a regional economic leader approaching developed nation status, Malaysia has the resources and government infrastructure to do more to stem the tide of human trafficking.

It adds there were no visible measures taken by the Government to reduce the demand for forced labour or for commercial sex acts.

“For the last 15 years we have cautioned that allowing employers to withhold a workers’ passports opens them to exploitation and bondage but this has not been addressed,” said Fernandez.

She added there was a lack of transparency in investigations, for example, in the sale of refugees along the Thai-Malaysia border.

“The Government is in a state of denial. It should have at least engaged with us since we released the report on the sale of refugees in December but it has not happened,” she said.

Hookers for Singapore
Among the things Malaysia should do to improve its ranking would be to reform the recruiting and employment of migrant workers, better define their contracts and the structure of their employment clearly, said Fernandez.

“We also need to move in line with the standards set by the International Labour Organisation,” she said.

She confirmed the statement in the report that “some Malaysian women, primarily of Chinese ethnicity and from indigenous groups and rural areas, are trafficked abroad” to countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, France and Britain for “commercial sexual exploitation.”

“Yes, we know of Sabahan women who were trafficked to Singapore for commercial sexual exploitation but when we raised it with the Singaporean Government they told us it was not trafficking because prostitution was legalised there.

“There have also been cases of women from the hinterland in Sarawak being taken to the logging camps in the state for sexual exploitation,” she said.

A positive note for Malaysia in the report is the mention of Alice Nah under the section Heroes acting to end modern-day slavery.

Nah, who wrote about the trafficking of Myanmar refugees along the Malaysia-Thailand border, is a founding member of the Migration Working Group, a network of lawyers, academics, and volunteers focused on caring for, protecting and defending the rights of refugees and migrant workers who are especially vulnerable to becoming victims of forced labour.

In the main report and in the country narratives, Malaysia gets quite a lot of mention as a destination country and to a lesser extent as a source and transit country for either commercial sexual exploitation or forced labour (use ‘Malaysia’ as your search keyword).

Among the reasons for the downgrade from the Tier 2 Watch List were that the Malaysian government had:

*NOT fully addressed trafficking in persons issues, especially labour trafficking, although it took initial action under its Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act 2007, against sex trafficking;

*NOT arrested, prosecuted or convicted any immigration officials said to be involved in the trafficking and extorting of Myanmar refugees although the police and Prime Minister had confirmed there were investigations; and

*NOT developed mechanisms to screen effectively victims of trafficking from vulnerable groups.

Malaysia wants explanation
In an immediate response, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said Malaysia would get the United States to “explain” why the country has been downgraded, reports MAZWIN NIK ANIS from PUTRAJAYA.

He said officials would be visiting the US Embassy to “get the real picture” on why Malaysia was placed on the list again.

“We want to determine what is the offending act or non-action on our part that warranted Malaysia being blacklisted.

“It is incumbent on us to address the issue because we have a responsibility to the international community as far as human trafficking is concerned.

“In fact, Malaysia, Australia and Britain are exploring the possibility of having a tripartite agreement on human trafficking to show our commitment to dealing with the issue,” he told reporters after chairing his ministry’s post-Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

Last year, the report elevated Malaysia to a “watch list” from the 2007 blacklist after finding that it was “making significant efforts” to comply with standards.

Hishammuddin said while the Government would do “whatever possible” to curb human trafficking, he admitted there were limitations, especially with Malaysia’s “vast borders and long shorelines.”

“Nevertheless, with most agencies involved in this being under my ministry, we will make adjustments to curb the problem. But first, we need to find more from them why we have been blacklisted,” he said.

His deputy, Datuk Wira Abu Seman Yusof, took a stronger stance, saying that Malaysia should not have been put on the list and that the US Government was “unjustified” in doing so.

“We’re denying that Malaysia should be put on the list of human trafficking countries. It is not justifiable,” he told reporters in the Parliament lobby, LOH FOON FONG and LESTER KONG report from KUALA LUMPUR.

Nonetheless, Abu Seman said his ministry would spearhead an inter-ministerial council to deal with human traffickers that use the country as a transit point.

The first Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly Caucus chairman Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (BN-Santubong) refuted the allegations that government officials were involved in human trafficking.

Five Immigration offices nabbed for human trafficking

KUALA LUMPUR: Nine people, including five Johor Immigration Department officers, were arrested in several locations in the state since Friday, for alleged involvement in an international human trafficking syndicate.

The suspects were believed to have received payments from a syndicate for the 'sale' of a group of people, comprising mostly Rohingya refugees, as forced labour in various sectors like the fisheries industry.

Bukit Aman CID director Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Zinin said Monday the police had been monitoring the activities of the suspects, aged between 25 and 40, since March this year.

"According to a victim, the suspects were directly involved in human trafficking, starting from the Malaysia-Thai border to the rat trail believed to be their exit point to international countries.

"Upon reaching the exit point, the victims were handed over to a syndicate before being taken to a neighbouring country or sent back to Malaysia to work as forced labour," he told a press conference here.

The suspects have been remanded until Friday, and would be investigated under Section 13 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act 2007 which carries an imprisonment for a term which may extend to 20 years and fine, if convicted.

Bakri said the suspects were believed to have worked closely with the syndicate which had been active since last year, adding that the police were in the midst of tracking down syndicate members and their accomplices.

Last month, the United States put Malaysia back on its list of countries suspected of not doing enough to combat human trafficking, together with six African countries, namely Chad, Eritrea, Niger, Mauritania, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.

In another development, Bakri said 772 foreign nationals and illegal immigrants were nabbed over the past four years, in connection with several rape cases.

For the first six months of this year, he said 134 foreigners and illegal immigrants were arrested for murder. - Bernama

Immigration officer accused of selling Myanmar man

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian Immigration official was charged with selling an illegal immigrant from Myanmar to human traffickers at the country’s border with Thailand, his lawyer said Monday.

Rahman Selamat, a senior immigration official from southern Johor state, pleaded innocent to human trafficking charges, his lawyer Wan Mohamad Fadzil Maamor said.

If found guilty, Rahman faces up to 15 years in prison. The court in northern Kelantan state refused bail for Rahman pending trial on Aug 25, Wan Mohamad Fadzil said. Further details were not immediately available.

Rahman was arrested July 17 with four other immigration officials and four bus drivers, who allegedly helped transport the migrants to the border.

Police said investigations showed the immigration officers sold an unspecified number of Myanmar migrants detained for living in Malaysia without valid travel documents to human traffickers at the Thai border for up to RM600 each.

The traffickers then allegedly took the migrants into Thailand and told them to pay RM2,000 each for their freedom, or they would be forced to work in the fishing industry, police said.

It was unclear if the other Malaysian officials or bus drivers accused of involvement would also be charged. The officials did not specify the ethnicity of the migrants, but most Myanmar people who try to enter Malaysia are ethnic Rohingya Muslims.

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

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

Source : Malaysia Star Online 

The Proud and Principled Malays vs The Money-Obsessed Chinese

By batsman

Recently there have been quite a few articles claiming that the word Melayu means runaway or refugee in Javanese. If these claims are true then it is quite easy to understand the psyche of the Malays. With the following, I hope I am adding to RPK’s article about the Proud and Principled Malays rather than making subtractions. 

If the Malays are refugees from abusive ancient kingdoms of SE Asia, it is with great fortune that they found security and safety in the Land of the Refugees – Tanah Melayu. In time they started new lives without too many connections to their old communities and origins, made a home here and established great kingdoms of their own but I submit that the Malay culture and psyche has not forgotten its refugee past. The Sumatran prince who founded Melaka was a refugee. Even though the Bugis princes who came to Johore and Selangor may be called adventurers, but what propelled them from their home shores may not be totally seeking thrills and fortune. 

Later still, more waves of refugees and adventurers came from further afield – from China and India. All these cultures more or less accepted each others’ presence and lived in peace with the odd grab for power that makes history so much more exciting. All these cultures carry the imprint of their refugee past. 

For the Chinese, they reacted to their refugee conditions by ignoring everything else except making money. This was their ticket to escaping from misery and poverty. The Chinese psyche reacted to being refugees by turning inward (some might even say “becoming cowardly”). After all, there were many more hungry mouths to feed back in China apart from the ones here. Needless to say, such a culture and psyche has consequences for the future of Malaysia and framed the conditions we find ourselves in today. 

However, it does not mean that running amok is a monopoly of Malay culture. If the Chinese are pushed into a corner and prevented from making money, then in all likelihood we may yet see the Chinese version of running amok. But this scenario has yet to happen and the Chinese are still making good money in Malaysia due to wise government policies (even if the Cina Baru no longer have any hungry mouths to feed back in China, there are still plenty of greedy mouths to feed here). 

After all, the Chinese are still quite capable of fully taking up their quotas of government bonds (in fact I think it is silly of the government to impose quotas on the Chinese and should take as much money as the Chinese can cough up – after all the MACC, police, judges and civil servants need to be paid and development projects in Sabah and Sarawak need to be funded). 

The Malays on the other hand reacted to refugee conditions in a more outwardly manner – by placing their egos into an “altar-ego” (as opposed to alter ego). Everything they are in real life becomes unimportant and it is only the “altar-ego” that must remain pure and unsullied. As refugees, being abused and bullied in real life, being cheated in real life and being lied to in real life is still tolerable. Tanah Melayu is not the last refuge, even if there is nowhere else to go. The pride and dignity of the Malays is the last refuge. 

So it is that the pride and dignity of the Malays must be protected at all costs, even if the Malays are often quarrelling amongst themselves. In fact as RPK points out often, the Malays have always been quarrelling and fighting amongst themselves, but this is unimportant as long as the pride and dignity of the Malays are preserved. 

Who better to be the keeper of Malay pride and dignity than UMNO? Even the Malays Rulers cannot compete with UMNO in this field, for while the Malay Rulers are only constitutional rulers, UMNO forms the government of the day and possess all the real power that it needs to protect Malay pride and dignity, including the ISA and Sedition Acts. 

So in reality, whilst Malays often quarrel amongst themselves and are able to ignore the worst abuses of power and corruption, Malay pride and dignity must remain pure and intact. In fact, it seems that the worse the abuse of power and the more sinful the corruption, the more the Malays rally round to protect their pride and dignity as if the desperate truth needed to be offset by even greater pride and dignity. 

The question then arises, why is it that Malays quarrel amongst themselves? This is not a strange matter at all. In fact the Chinese also quarrel endlessly and unremittingly amongst themselves, although they seem not to care so much for pride and dignity but more for money. As such most people say that it is usually a quarrel over money or power, but I like to think that it is also a quarrel over good versus evil. 

I like to think that the Malays became refugees not because they were bad people, but because they were good people – people who stood up against injustice and corruption. This is shown by the way they accepted other refugees from alien lands and strange cultures who came later. In a way Malays also quarrel amongst themselves over how they think people of other cultures should be treated. 

I am not an expert on why Malays quarrel amongst themselves, preferring not to think about these things, but it would seem to me that there is also a generational gap involved that has not been analysed adequately yet. 

50 or more years ago, Malays were nearer to their refugee past and they showed great sympathy for refugees of alien lands and accepted them in their midst. Back then, Malays were dirt poor and they had no problems mixing with people of alien cultures. Back then everybody’s contribution was valued and any positive discrimination was capped by a time limit. 

Today, 50 years farther from their refugee past, a new generation of Malays are now richer and more comfortable. Of course there are still dirt poor Malays. Maybe this is one of the reasons why Malays still quarrel amongst themselves, but this is beside the point for the moment. 

A new generation of Malays who have become rich now want their wealth and power to be guaranteed forever. Individuals want guaranteed wealth and power. Individual families want guaranteed wealth and power. These Melayu Baru are not the same as their forefathers 50 or more years ago. The people are not the same, the values are not the same and even the culture is not the same. They don’t even identify with their poorer compatriots anymore except during election time. 

Perhaps it is with the realization that Malays must stop quarrelling amongst themselves and that people of different races and cultures must stop quarrelling between themselves that the 1Malaysia concept was started. But I think there are fatal weaknesses both in the concept and in the implementation. Checks and balances have not been properly institutionalized and the civil service has not been made politically neutral and there are apparently no plans or any intention for doing so. Other people may think otherwise and disagree vehemently. Maybe that is why the quarrels continue? 

In the meantime, it is good that the government can depend on a good take-up of government bonds to continue the economic development, prosperity and enrichment of the country under a government which treats checks and balances as a small nuisance and criticism as a seditious threat to national security.

A chin refugee beaten by culprits

A chin refugee unknown who was working at factory in Johor Bahru, Malaysia was beaten by culprits and he was severely wounded. The incident was informed to VOCR by manager in the factory where a chin refugee was working but he refused to give detail.

Recently, not only he was discharged from his job but also his salary was deceived by the employer and he demanded his salary to his boss. But the boss ignored his begging and he called the culprits and beaten him. According to manager he is severely wounded and he became unconscious. After he was beaten up , the boss lodged a reported to the police and the police patrol car arrived shortly then he was rush to hospital. After he had short-treatment in hospital he was taken to Police station because he has no proper document. He was recognized as refugee with he has RSD UC letter from the UNHCR office but the police did not recognized the letter which he has.


The incident is still under investigating by his friends and community leaders but the authorities may ignore the incident like in a previous time. These kinds of incident have been happening around chin refugee in Malaysia but anyone cannot handle in the court and acclaim for those who were deceived by their boss.

According to one of NGO interpreters, this kind of incidents are trying to be handle by Tenaganita NGO but now, so far they handle this incident they cannot do anymore. But the UNHCR is considering who are in this incident.

Source : VOCR

Australia immigration acts on refugee problem

August 05 2009 by Matt Jones
 

Laurie Ferguson MP helps Australia immigration

Laurie Ferguson, Australia's Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs and Settlement Services is meeting with members of community organisations from Dawin to discuss Australian immigration.

In Darwin, the Capital city of the sparsely populated Northern Territory, a meeting is being held to discuss ways to improve the Australia visa service provided to refugees in the region.

Mr Ferguson said: “I am keen to look at how we can best support refugees to transition in Australia and to learn about their new home. Every city is different so travelling to all States and Territories is crucial.”  

He continued, “By obtaining feedback from community organisations, other interested parties and refugees themselves, the consultation will help us to improve and strengthen the services”.

Large numbers of refugees move to Australia. The country is consistently one of the top three desinations in the world for refugees. With global warming and other more short term crisis set to create more refugees to Australia, this issue has needed to be addressed.

In a related meeting yesterday, the Australian Home-affairs Minister, the Australian Immigration Minister and Attorney-General Robert McCelland visited Malaysia to speak with Hishammuddin Hussein who is Malaysia’s Minister of Home Affairs.  

In the recent budget, $654 million was allocated by the Australian government to tackle people smuggling and immigration issues. This high level meeting was to discuss the spending of part of that budget.

100 ex-Malaysians march to press for British citizenship

LONDON: More than 100 Malaysian British Overseas Citizens (BOCs) staged a peace march yesterday as part of their campaign to lobby for British citizenship.

Most of them are from Penang and Malacca who had renounced their Malay-sian citizenship but now find themselves stateless as they are not entitled to British nationality.

They are part of over 500 BOCs in Bri-tain who are in a quandary after being misled into giving up their Malaysian passports as a route towards acquiring British citizenship.
 
Refugees: The Malaysian BOCs and supporters during their peace march in central London Monday.

Holding placards and banners declaring “Where is our home?” and “We are victims of limbo,” they marched from Westminster Abbey to the Home Office nearby at about 1pm, attracting attention from the lunch-time crowd.

A six-member delegation later presented a letter to Immigration Minister Phil Woolas’ private secretary Oliver Ferrari, seeking a meeting with the minister to look into the plight of the Malaysian BOCs.

Among those in the group were two BOCs identified only as Tracy and Edward, London Chinese Information and Advice Centre’s Malaysian chairman councillor Edmond Yeo, London Citizens’ co-ordinator Jessica Jones, Brentwood vicar-general Father John Armitage and St Bonaventure School’s head student Senyo Aidm.

“The BOCs have been poorly advised, causing them to live in destitution, fear and exploitation,” said Yeo, who was among the community leaders who turned up to give their support.

These former Malaysians acquired BOC status by virtue of being born in Penang and Malacca before 1983 following an amendment to the British Nationality Act, which created a residual BOC category.

Newlywed Lim, who is one of those affected, said he felt sad that he could not go for his honeymoon in Paris despite being married nine months ago.

“We’ve saved money for the trip but it’s still a dream as I am stranded in Britain,” said the 33-year-old Penangite.

Lim is facing an even worse predicament, as his BOC passport, along with his Malaysian driving licence and cut-up Malaysian passport, were seized by the Home Office two years ago.

He was then detained for overstaying, spending 18 days in four detention centres, including sleeping in Heathrow Airport.

“It’s been a living nightmare. I don’t know whether I’ll be arrested or thrown into a detention centre on my next visit,” said Lim, who gave up his Malaysian citizenship in 2006 to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain status in Britain.

Brazil .. described by a Malaysian woman

A Malaysian woman, who always visits us at Refugees United Brasil’s office is returning to Malaysia, her homeland. I hope I could see her again some day … 

She wrote a thankful poem to Brazil and the Brazilians for the warm welcome they gave to her. And she gave us a copy, printed in a beautiful poster to be fixed on our wall! We’re reproducing the text here.

Thank you Noraina!

Alexandra
Refugees United Brasil

Especially to venerable President
With his Government
Thank you
Accolade to the Brazilian people

Thank you
For the dream has turn into reality
To stay in this beautiful country
As a second home upon the affection

Golden heart
People of this marvelous country
Brazil country, seated so far in America Latina
With many races, many colours, nationalities from all nations

Welcome the foreigners with an open heart
Give them a shelter, when there is no home
Trying to give a second chance
To be grateful in this beautiful life

The Malaysian lady, walked along the street
Incapable to speak their beautiful language
Very fascinating, they understood her signs
Amenable to give hand where is needed

The Malaysian lady
Trust the existing of the foreigners
For them not to misuse the second opportunity
Our existing brings glory, not misery, she said
Or the opportunity to be wealth by mean and greed
In the eyes of God and humanity

Create a vision that bring glory
To be shared among the Brazilian people
For the foreigners can do better by the rise of their history root
Followed the story legend from their country

Pre-eminent … The beauty colour person … on the seat of America throne
That break the history … first ever
The Brazilian gave the foreigners the opportunities,
To share their family, country, jobs
The benefits of the society …

As an aid to ease the foreigners in their tough journey…
The Malaysian lady was amazed by the intellectual,
the abilities, the people of this country
Especially in the field of
Health, education and agricultural

Unselfishness to themselves
Willingly … sharing their knowledge and experience
With educated foreigners
To be someone in the future of time

Let us hand in hand together with the lovely Brazilian people
To glorify … America Latina
A well known country because of…
The beautiful hospitality and their bountiful generosity
With greatest community pride, cultural and racial diversity

Especially to all Brazilian people
In the world, wherever you may be…
Thank you… for embrace us with your generosity
Warmth hospitality and abundant generosities
May God returned your good deeds with your family
As huge as the ocean … infinity

Masya allaah, Glory be to you, Yaa allaah
Laa hawla wala quwwata illaa bilaahil ‘aliyyil ‘azhiim
Allaahuma Sali ‘alaa saiyidina Muhammad wa ‘alaa aaliji
Wa shahbihi wa salam wal hamdulillaahi rabbil ‘aalamin

By Noraini da Malaysia

Source : Refugees United AU 

islandpacket.com | Many examples of good in the Episcopal Church

islandpacket.com | Many examples of good in the Episcopal Church

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More on Malaysia: a Muslim country that treats refugees like dirt (or worse)

We’ve told you about this before during my rant about a UN report that said the idea of charity toward refugees originated with the Islamic so-called faith. I told you then that Muslim countries generally do not welcome the stranger and here is further confirmation that a fairly prosperous Muslim country is abusing the refugees who arrive there. Hat tip: B.L.

Where are the refugees all hoping to go—to Australia of course! A very lucrative human trafficking business has sprung up in Malaysia as a result. From The Age:

RAMESHWAREN, a young Tamil asylum-seeker from Sri Lanka, speaks quietly, with a painful melancholy that belies his years.

“I feel castrated,” he says, looking up from the floor. “All of this is unbearable. I am on the edge of a mental breakdown.”

One of an estimated 100,000 refugees living precariously in Malaysia, and one of 16 million recognised asylum seekers worldwide, Rameshwaren’s helplessness is a frustration felt around the world.

Just one of every 250 people who have been forced to flee their countries because of war, famine and persecution can expect to be resettled as a refugee this year.

And this is why, he says, he is prepared to chance his arm and take a boat to Australia.

“I can’t return to Sri Lanka but there is no life for me here in Malaysia,” he says. “I cannot work here legally, there is no medical (care), there is no education. I don’t think that the UN will be able to resettle us. So we have to find somewhere else, we have to find some way to get there by ourselves. That is why I want to take a boat to Australia.

“It is a land of freedom. It is somewhere safe for me, my mother, my sisters and brother.”

Along with Afghans and Pakistanis, Sri Lankans are making up an increasing share of the asylum seekers paying thousands of dollars to reach Australia. Almost 200 Sri Lankans arrived last weekend, taking a vessel direct from Malaysia to Christmas Island.

Apparently the UNHCR isn’t able to protect the refugees entering Malaysia.

Yet, for all the infrastructure for illegal migrants, many refugees find Malaysia profoundly unwelcoming. It does not recognise the UN convention for refugees and its corrupt and sometimes brutal immigration officials, police and a paramilitary civilian volunteer corps known as RELA are accused of frequently harassing migrants, even those with UN Commission for Refugees cards.

UN: Boats trying to get to Australia, just the tip of the iceberg.

The UNHCR deputy representative in Malaysia, Henrik Nordentoft, says there are “great difficulties” for asylum seekers in Malaysia and that the boats intercepted recently along the route between Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia are “probably the tip of the iceberg”.

I don’t know what is to be done about the following, but I do know that if the US, Europe and Australia succumb to pressure by Leftwing open borders do-gooders and try to take on this huge challenge, just like a life boat that is overloaded and sinks with all aboard, so also will we.

He [UN Rep] points to the global dimensions of the problem. While asylum claims rose 28 per cent last year, and there were 42 million displaced people and more than 16 million officially recognised asylum seekers, only 67,000 people were resettled.

Endnote: Yesterday I reported that the Obama Administration could expand the definition for asylum and possibly open the door for even more asylees to seek entry into the US.

Refugee supplies destroyed

A faith-based charity is reeling from the loss of donated supplies in this week's flooding.

Dozens of pieces of furniture and thousands of clothing and linen items, waiting for placement in the homes of incoming refugees, were destroyed by floodwaters that struck a basement storage area used by Catholic Charities on Fourth Street.

The organization lost about a dozen beds, 45 sofas, 15 living-room chairs, eight vacuums, four baby cribs, four televisions, six computers, six to eight dressers and about 15 mirrors, according to Chris Clements of Catholic Charities' Migration and Refugee Services.

Also lost were thousands of sheets, blankets and clothing articles, many of them school uniforms being prepared for an upcoming school-supply giveaway for refugee children, he said.

The storage area is in the 2900 block of Fourth Street, between other hard-hit institutions such as Churchill Downs and the University of Louisville.

"The drains were coming up like geysers or fountains" during Tuesday's storm, Clements said. "We actually had to clog them rather than open them because they were causing more problems than good."

He said this is the "worst time to have stuff taken away from us" because summer is the busiest time for the arrival of refugees under federal programs bringing displaced persons from conflict zones. Many refugees are arriving from Myanmar, Iraq, Bhutan, Nepal, Cuba, East Africa and other lands.

Those wanting to help can call Clements at Catholic Charities at 636-9263.

"The community always steps up to our needs but it's going to be an almost impossible task to keep up in the next 2-3 weeks," he said.

Refugees find help at area churches

Members of several Charlotte churches say they have seen a growing number of Myanmar immigrants who do not have enough to eat, and the churches are responding by offering free meals.

St. John's United Methodist Church on Monroe Road hosts free dinners for local refugees from Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, in the Charlotte area every Wednesday and Saturday. 

Providence United Methodist Church provides the hot meals and canned foods that are distributed at St. John's. 

“There is a tremendous need in the community,” said Bob Breed, associate pastor of outreach at Myers Park Presbyterian Church, which also collects canned foods to be distributed at St. John's. 

The Myanmar community has grown to approximately 300 families since last year, according to Thanei Taithio, a case worker at the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, which arranges for immigrants from Myanmar to come to the Charlotte area. 

There's been an increase in refugees in the area because of severe persecution in Myanmar, said Jackie White, member of Methodist Mission of Cambodia.

“The government is taking over their land, taking over their homes…just all kinds of horrible things. Their lives are in danger. Thousands of Burmese people have to flee for their lives,” she said. “We've been taking in donations for clothing and different things they are in need of.”

“I feel like they are very happy to take the food,” said Taithio, who represents the Myanmar community at St. John's.

Oakhurst Elementary on Monroe Road had planned to provide free lunch for community members, but it was moved to St. John's and became an outreach program for the Myanmar refugee community, said White. 

“…We were aware that a bunch of kids were going to be without food,” said Bill Jeffries, senior associate pastor at Providence. 

Jeffries handed fliers out at Oakhurst, posted signs at Providence and worked with the congregation to collect canned foods. 

Although it has not been decided whether the meals will continue throughout the school year, the free dinners at St. John's will go on until Aug. 22. With the upcoming school year about to start, free breakfast and lunch will be provided for the children. 

“Just about everyone you meet here has a story,” said Jeffries.

“It gladdens our hearts to help them. They are some of the most appreciative people...they keep saying ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.'”

Susan Zual, 17, Beth Par, 16, Michael Sang, 4, and father Ngun Sang, 35, drive about 30 minutes from their home in Ballantyne for free dinners at St. John's. 

According to Zual, the Myanmar government is very authoritarian. There are a lot of rapes and murders, “like in ‘Rambo,' ” Par said. 

Although born in Myanmar, both girls spent most of their childhood in New Delhi, India. 

In 2000, their family moved to the United States and has lived in Wisconsin, Maryland, and just recently Charlotte. 

“It's a treat,” said Carol Shinn, coordinator of servant ministries at Providence. “I've heard thank yous in more languages in the past three months than I've ever heard. They are the most gracious group.” 

Jason's Deli and Chipotle Mexican Grill have sponsored meals at St. John's. A couple of weeks ago, Chipotle provided 100 burritos.

“They ate every bite of it,” she said. “It's truly a community effort” with sponsors from restaurants, dry food donations from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, and local help from the community.

White, whom Shinn describes as “a saint,” picks up Myanmar and Cambodian families from their homes and brings them to St. John's for the free dinners and to the grocery store to pick up food, Shinn said. There are several Cambodian families who attend the free dinners as well. 

“It's a call of God, an assignment the Lord has given me,” said White. Almost every year for the past 12 years, White has traveled to the border of Myanmar and Thailand to work with the Hilltribe People, a group of different villages and tribes who migrate and farm together.

She teaches English and sewing to girls “so they don't get caught up in the sex trade and trafficking industry” and creates youth programs and seminars. “It's become very easy to do because of my love for the Asian people in my heart.”

Jeffries said “We're just going to do whatever we got to do. If everyone did a little bit, it makes a difference.”