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."
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."
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