6 more Burmese detainees die of leptospirosis

Tuesday, 29 September 2009 20:22

A string of civil society groups have expressed shock at the news that another six Burmese migrants have died while in detention in Malaysia because of a suspected waterborne disease.


We are shocked and disappointed to hear that another six Burmese migrants have died while in detention in Malaysia because of a suspected waterborne disease. Leptospirosis is caused by exposure to water contaminated by animal urine, like rat urine. (Straits Times, 25 September 2009, Migrants die in detention/ Associated Press, 24 September 2009).

From our investigation, the names of three of those who have died are So Thein [Prison Body number 0853, Block B1, Ethnicity: Burman, Age: 36], Min Khaing [Body number 5009, Ethnicity: Karen, Age: 23] and Min Nown [Ethnicity: Arkan, Age: 28]. The other three are of Chin ethnicity. It seems that the deaths happened in August.

This time the deaths seem to have occurred at the Detention Centre at the KL International Airport (KLIA) depot. The Straits Times report states that an official had informed them that "the detainees likely contracted the disease in another centre. They were transferred together with some 700 others after a riot there". In an earlier report (The Star, 24 July 2009), it was stated that "some 700 Myanmar illegal immigrants involved in a ruckus at the Semenyih immigration depot early this month have been moved to the department’s KL International Airport (KLIA) depot".

It must be noted that this is not the first case of death by reason of Leptospirosis. Sa La Hin, 26, and Thang Hoih Ping, 21, two Burmese migrants, died in the Juru Immigration Detention Centre from Leptospirosis in May 2009; 127 civil society groups and organisations responded via a joint statement entitled ‘Death of two Burmese indicative of state of detention places in Malaysia: Denial of health care is a violation of right to life’.

Complaints were also lodged with the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), Prime Minister Najib Razak, Home Affairs Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, and the Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai,

After the leptospirosis outbreak in the Juru Detention Centre in Penang in May, Immigration Director-General Abdul Rahman assured us that the cleanliness and hygiene at immigration depots nationwide will be stepped-up to ensure safety of staff and inmates there against contracting infectious diseases (Bernama, 19 May 2009).

Suhakam via a letter dated 16 July 2009 had informed us that they had met with the Director General of Immigration on 4 June 2009, and amongst others, had recommended that "as a measure to control contagious diseases to ensure that all immigration detention centres should have a doctor or medical officer in line with international requirements, and that cleanliness of detention centres should be taken care of".

It must also be borne in mind that last year Suhakam identified medical care as an overriding reason why 1,300 detainees have died over the past six years, and had made recommendations to the government. At present the 22 centres throughout Malaysia do not have a permanent clinical dispensary manned by doctors or a medical assistant to help detainees (ABC News, 28 May 2009).

In May 2009, it was reported that about 26 were admitted to hospital following a leptospirosis outbreak in the Juru Detention Centre, and they survived, and this leads us to believe that prompt access to health care can avoid death. It is shocking that in this recent case, six have died. What is more disturbing is that there seems to have been no reported disclosure by the Malaysian authorities on this. We still do not know the number of detainees that have been affected this time.

This is a disease caused by exposure to water contaminated with the urine of infected animals and is very rarely propagated through contact with affected persons. Questions must be raised as to how detainees in an enclosed detention centre are contracting this disease. Are they being affected through the food and water supplied by the detention centres? Are the detention centres having a rat infestation problem?

After the recent deaths and outbreak in the Juru Detention Centre, one would have expected the Malaysian government to have taken immediate steps to ensure that there are no more cases of leptospirosis and deaths. We wonder also whether the authorities took a lackadaisical attitude and did not even conduct a thorough investigation to determine the source of the contamination that caused that outbreak. Results of such investigations will not only determine liability, but would also ensure that further deaths from leptospirosis could be avoided.

We, the undersigned, call on Suhakam to immediately commence a public inquiry into these deaths and detention places generally and come up with concrete recommendations which could be implemented that will improve the state of cleanliness, hygiene and health care of all detention places in Malaysia. It was sad that Suhakam decided not to carry out a public inquiry after the Juru deaths in May.

We are also call upon the Health Ministry and the Malaysian government to conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of this leptospirosis outbreak, which is reported to have already resulted in six deaths.

We also call for the resignation of Immigration Director-General Abdul Rahman, considering that this is the second reported case of deaths by reason of leptospirosis at immigration detention centres within the last four months.

The Malaysian government must take necessary action to ensure that proper steps be taken so that such disregard for life does not happen again.

With regard to those who have died, their family and/or dependents should be given adequate compensation by the persons responsible, the detaining authority and the Malaysian government.

Officers and persons responsible for the acts or omissions that resulted in death and suffering should be charged and prosecuted for these crimes. They should not be permitted to hide behind safeguards provided to public servants, which unfortunately only promotes a culture of impunity with no sense of responsibility and respect for human life.

Charles Hector
Pranom Somwong
Tun Tun

For and on behalf of the 21 organisations/groups listed below:
Asian Migrant Centre (AMC)
Burma Campaign, Malaysia
Clean Clothes Campaign -International Secretariat
Khmer Kampuchea Krom Human Rights Organization (Cambodia)
Legal Support for Children and Women (LSCW) Cambodia
MADPET (Malaysians against Death Penalty and Torture)
MAP Foundation, Thailand
Mekong Migration Network (MMN)
Mekong Ecumenical Partnership Program-MEPP
Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA)
National League for Democracy [NLD (LA)], Malaysia
Network of Action for Migrants in Malaysia (NAMM)
Nepal Institute of Development Studies (NIDS) Nepal
Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM)
Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor
Persatuan Masyarakat Malaysia & Wilayah Persekutuan (PERMAS)
Pusat Komas
The Shan Refugee Organization (SRO) Malaysia
Thai Action Committees for democracy in Burma (TACDB)
The Action Network for Migrants (ANM) Thailand
Workers Hub for Change (WH4C)

Source Link

Burmese Migrant Workers Arrested in Malaysian Crackdown

by peacerunning


Malaysian authorities have arrested about 100 Burmese migrant workers in their latest crackdown on foreign labor.

The arrested migrants include 50 Mon, according to Roi Mon, joint chairman of the Mon Refugee Organization. Twenty Karen are among the arrested Burmese, said Mahn Sein Than, chairman of the Karen Refugee Organization.

Hundreds of other Burmese migrants who escaped arrest have cut their working hours drastically because of fears of new raids. The current crackdown began on June 1.

About 1,000 Burmese migrants work in restaurants and other businesses in one area alone of Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown, in Petaling Street.

Malaysian authorities have reportedly threatened restaurant owners in Petaling Street that their licenses will be cancelled if they are found to employ foreign workers. “There are longer any Burmese working in the restaurants there,” said Roi Mon.

One Burmese woman, War Yu, said: Two of my friends had to return to Burma last week because they were laid off.”
According to the Kuala Lumpur-based Burma Workers’ Rights Protection Committee, about 500,000 Burmese migrants work in Malaysia, legally and illegally.

The Malaysian government announced last December that the country no longer needs foreign labor and stepped up its efforts to deport migrant workers.

Meanwhile, the Network of Action for Migrants in Malaysia and MAP Foundation in Thailand have called on the Malaysian and Thailand governments to protect the rights of Burmese migrants and ensure that migrants can exercise their labor, social, cultural, economic and political rights.

The groups called in a joint statement, released yesterday, for a halt to unjust, discriminatory and unconstitutional policies on migrants. Burmese migrants were in a desperate situation because of the global economic crisis, they said

Irrawaddy

Mon migrant workers in Malaysia invited to register with the UN

Wed 30 Sep 2009, Asah

On the 15th this upcoming October, 2849 Mon migrant workers in Malaysia will be allowed to register as refugees with the United Nations (UN).

The invitation has been extended not only to Mon workers already residing in Malaysia, but also to Mon refugees living in refugee camps in Thailand, many of whom are now moving to Malaysia to take advantage of the UN’s offer.

Registering as refugees win the UN provides migrants with official United Nation identification documents; such identification aids them in finding employment and provides legal benefits.

According to Nai Sai Wana, chairman of the Malaysia Mon Refugee Organization, migrant workers from many Burmese ethnic minorities will be allowed to register in much higher numbers than last year. Between 600 and 700 Ka Chin, 10, 000 Chin, over 600 Shan, over 2,800 Mon, over 1,000 Karen, and roughly 400 Karen Ni migrant workers from Burma will be allowed to register with the United Nations by then end of a registration period that started on July 17th and will last until the cutoff point on October 15th.

“On the 15th of March 2009, we registered with UN about 5,000 Mon migrants in Malaysia. So, they gave many Mon migrants this special this October. In 2009, those who have been registered at the UN can get a job easier than others. And NGO groups help those who have registered already to get jobs,“ he added. Nai Sai Wana also mentioned that opportunities for migrant worker registration in Malaysia this year were far greater than last year, when only migrants recently released from prison, or those infected with diseases like HIV, were allowed to register with the UN. According to the chairman, there are over 20,000 Mon migrant workers living, but only 6,500 are members of the Malaysia Mon Refugee Organization. By becoming members of the MMRO, migrant workers are allowed to register with the United Nations as legal workers in Malaysia.

According to a worker already registered in Malaysia, this year the MMRO wants to register more Mon migrants than last year, because the organization is anxious to draw UN attention to migrant worker issues and abuses in Malaysia.

“After we registered, we got a paper [like a certificate] and then one month later we got a UN ID. If we have a UN ID, we are supported when we want a job, and the police don’t arrest us. In fact, we can get a good job as well as a good salary. We aren’t afraid of a boss who doesn’t pay money each month for a working salary,” this worker added.

According to a Mon migrant worker who registered with the UN just last month, many Mon migrant workers in Malaysia want to register with the UN because not registering leaves them vulnerable to being arrested by the Malaysian police will. It is also very difficult to get a good job without a UN certificate and a passport.

“If we have no UN ID or passport, the police can arrest us at any time. And we have to be afraid that they will arrest us if we go somewhere. Those who have a ID get a salary of 1200 Malaysian ringgit per month, but those without an ID only get 800 ringgit per month. Sometime a boss wouldn’t pay our salaries, and we couldn’t complain, this worker added.

On the 13th of August in 2009, 250 Mon migrant workers in Malaysia were allowed to register with the UN, Nai Sai Wana pointed out.

The chairman also mentioned that last year, the UN allowed Kachin migrant workers to register in greater numbers than members of other ethic minorities from Burma. Only 30 member of each ethnic group (including the Mon) were allowed to register.

Malay cops set up ‘rat traps’

Malay cops set up ‘rat traps’ to nab foreign women offering vice services

Kuala Lumpur, Sept 30 (ANI): In order to catch foreign women providing vice services, police are setting ‘rat traps’ at the Majestic Heights flats in Paya Terubong.

As part of the trap, police personnel will pose as clients seeking sexual favours to nab the women.

“Such a method is definitely more effective than conducting raids at the flat as these women do not conduct their activities in their units,” the Star Online quoted OCPD Supt Gan Kong Meng as telling reporters after a joint raid codenamed Ops Rantau with the Immigration Department and Rela members at the flats.

Supt Gan said that an Indonesian woman, in her 30s, was arrested for not having travel documents or a work permit, adding that over 300 foreigners were screened in the two- hour raid that started at 9pm.

He said that the raid by 70 personnel took place following reports that the flats have become a favourite haunt of locals looking to pick up cheap and easy foreign women.

Supt Gan said that some of the vacant units in the 23-storey blocks have been broken into and turned into prostitution dens. (ANI)

Understanding Myanmar

Author: Jayshree Bajoria, Staff Writer

Updated: September 29, 2009

Introduction

• Limited International Influence
• Political History
• The State and Society in Myanmar
• The Role of Buddhist Monks
• The Troubled Way Forward

Introduction

Myanmar's repressive military regime faces new scrutiny by the international community and competing calls for sanctions and greater engagement with the regime. In September 2009, the United States decided to abandon its policy of isolating the regime in favor of direct talks with the leaders. The new policy was the result of a seven-month review after formal acknowledgement by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Washington's policy of sanctions against Myanmar (also known as Burma) had failed. The sanctions remain in place. After nearly twenty years of staying mostly out of the international spotlight, the southeast Asian country grabbed headlines in September 2007 following wide-spread protests by Buddhist monks, the so-called "Saffron revolution." The ruling junta's slow response and its initial blockade of international aid efforts for the victims of a deadly cyclone in May 2008, which killed over 140,000 people, led some Western leaders and rights groups to call for forced humanitarian intervention. The country's pro-democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest and faces ever more pressure from the regime. The junta has decided to hold elections in 2010 under a new 2008 constitution that has been widely criticized for further entrenching military rule. The government refused to uphold the results of the last elections in 1990 in which Suu Kyi's party garnered a majority of the vote.

Limited International Influence

International policy towards Myanmar is varied, the Economist notes--it runs the gamut from harsh U.S. sanctions to milder sanctions by Europe and Japan to full commercial engagement by neighbors China, India, and the member states of ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The United States imposed sanctions after the 1988 brutal crackdown by the military on protests spearheaded by monks and students, including a ban on the export of financial services and a freeze on the assets of certain institutions. Washington announced new sanctions in October 2007 after the junta moved again to crush dissent. Since 2000, the United Nations has sent special envoys several times to promote political dialogue with the government and the opposition towards democratic reform but has made little progress. According to analysts, real influence lies with Myanmar's neighbors, Thailand, China, and India.

“Myanmar does not have a civil society,” says Mathea Falco.

Myanmar is "essentially a client state of China," says Mathea Falco, president of the Washington-based research institution Drug Strategies and chair of a 2003 CFR Independent Task Force on Myanmar. Bilateral trade between China and Myanmar exceeds $1.5 billion and China is one of the major suppliers of arms to the junta. China, along with Russia, has consistently defended the government against efforts by mainly Western states to press UN sanctions; in January 2007 they vetoed a Security Council resolution calling for democratic reform in the country. India, competing with China for Myanmar's oil and natural gas resources, shares extensive bilateral relations with the junta that include supplying it arms and conducting joint security operations.

Analysts still believe that ASEAN--which accepted Myanmar as a member in 1997--may be able to put pressure on the junta to change its ways. Following the May 2008 cyclone, the regional bloc was widely praised for its role in convincing the junta to finally allow international aid into the country. CFR's Senior Fellow Sheila Smith says while ASEAN "didn't quite condemn" Myanmar's government, it nonetheless went further than it "ever had in the past in being critical of the internal affairs of a member state." But as this Backgrounder points out, human rights issues remain a sticking point with member countries, some of whom have less than perfect human rights records of their own and do not welcome interference in their internal affairs anymore than Myanmar does.

Political History

A colony of the British Empire for more than a century, Myanmar achieved independence in 1948. The Union of Burma, as the newly independent country was called, started as a parliamentary democracy like most of its neighbors in the subcontinent that had recently gained freedom from colonial rule. It was beset by ethnic strife from the start. British authorities had been able to bring the different ethnic groups under some central administration. Soon after independence, however, the different groups began to resist domination by the Burman, the majority ethnic group. Burmans formed around 60 percent to 70 percent of the population in Burma; the remaining 30 percent to 40 percent was comprised of 135 different ethnic groups, with Karen, Shan, Rakhine, Chinese, Mon, and Indian among the largest.

Despite constitutional disputes, representative democracy survived in Burma until the military coup of 1962 led by General Ne Win. His regime, known as the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP), held power for the next twenty-six years. Throughout this period, there were no free elections, and freedom of expression and association were almost entirely denied. Ne Win abolished the constitution and framed a new one in 1974 based on an isolationist policy, "Burmese Way to Socialism," and the economy deteriorated significantly.

By mid-1988, food shortages and economic discontent led to mass protests, often spearheaded by monks and students. The army seized power in a coup, abolished the 1974 constitution and silenced the protests by opening fire on unarmed dissidents, leaving more than three thousand dead, according to official figures. A year later in 1989, this new military regime changed the country's name from the Union of Burma to the Union of Myanmar and the capital Rangoon was renamed Yangon. While the change in names has been accepted by the United Nations, countries such as the United States and Britain still refer to it as Burma. The junta also relocated the capital from the largest city Yangon to a remote mountainous town, Nay Pyi Taw, citing security reasons.

Analysts say real influence lies with Myanmar’s neighbors, Thailand, China, and India.


During the 1988 protests, Aung San Suu Kyi rose to prominence as the leader of the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). In 1990, the junta held elections in which Suu Kyi's party garnered 82 percent of the vote despite Suu Kyi's house arrest. The military government refused to acknowledge the results, imprisoned many NLD politicians, forced others to flee, and continued to clamp down on dissent, closing the country to the outside world.

The junta renamed itself the State Peace and Development Council in November 1997 and continues under this name to the present day. It drafted a new constitution (PDF) and put it to vote in May 2008 amid the humanitarian crisis from the cyclone. According to the junta the constitutional referendum won an overwhelming majority, but rights groups called the vote "a fraud." A March 2009 report (PDF) by the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins investigated the junta's response to the cyclone and recommended the international community to reject the results of the constitutional referendum. The military rulers have called for elections in 2010 under the new constitution but opposition leaders have instead called for a review of the charter which guarantees a quarter of the parliamentary seats to the military and bars Suu Kyi from office. Amnesty International also notes that the constitution contains "discriminatory" provisions such as barring members of religious orders and "destitute" persons from voting.

The State and Society in Myanmar

Myanmar, a country of estimated 56 million people, has abundant natural resources such as oil, natural gas, timber, and minerals. Once known as the rice bowl of the world, it was the richest country in the region at the time it gained independence from colonial rule in 1948. But decades of military rule have ravaged the country. In 2007, according to the United Nations Statistics Division, Myanmar's per capita gross domestic product (GDP) was only $379, making it one of the twenty poorest countries in the world.

Largely a Buddhist country (90 percent of the population are devout followers of Buddha), Myanmar has around four-hundred thousand monks and as many army personnel. The army has doubled in size since the 1988 uprising and now consumes over 40 percent of the government's annual budget. The military has extensive economic interests and its members occupy top positions in almost every government agency. Only military personnel are allowed to own shares in the military-run corporations that form a significant part of the economy. The junta has failed to deliver basic services to the people. Even with hundreds of thousands of people living with HIV in Myanmar, (making it one of the highest HIV- infected countries in Asia) the junta spent only 2.3 percent of GDP on health in 2006. According to the World Health Organization, Myanmar's health system is the world's second worst. UNICEF says more than 25 percent of the population lacks access to safe drinking water and malaria continues to be a national priority.

The army now consumes over 40 percent of the government’s annual budget.

Falco of Drug Strategies says, "Myanmar does not have a civil society." Thaung Htun, a pro-democracy activist in exile in United States, says that many self-help groups work clandestinely in communities to offer relief and humanitarian assistance. Htun says members of such groups are often arrested and beaten by the military.

Human-rights monitors report abuses by the military junta are commonplace, including the following:

Labor. Forced labor remains widespread (PDF), according to the International Labor Organization. Experts say it is targeted particularly at the ethnic minorities living in the border regions such as Karen, Mon, Shan, and Karenni. The International Committee of the Red Cross says there are about ninety prisons and labor camps in the country.
Population flight. A 2006 report by Refugees International estimates that around one million people have fled due to military excesses and fear of persecution and around five hundred thousand are internally displaced in the eastern part of the country.
Sexual Violence. The military's use of sexual violence against women has dramatically escalated in recent years, especially in dissident ethnic areas. The U.S. State Department's 2008 report on human rights also notes widespread reports of rape by the army in rural areas and among displaced persons.

Child soldiers. Myanmar has the world's largest number of child soldiers (under the age of 18) and the number is growing. Human Rights Watch said there were about seventy thousand child soldiers as of 2002, most of them forcibly recruited by the country's army.
Ethnic groups. Human Rights Watch, in its 2009 world report, describes the military's abuse of ethnic minorities through forced labor, sexual violence, extrajudicial killings, torture, and beatings, and notes confiscation of land and property is widespread.

The junta has repeatedly denied any human-rights violations and condemns efforts by the United Nations to place it on the discussion agenda of the Security Council. By mid-2009, there were over 2,100 political dissidents in jail.

The Role of Buddhist Monks

Monks in Myanmar have had a history of political activism dating back to colonial times. Monks enjoy the highest moral authority in Myanmar and monasteries play a prominent role in society, filling the gap in social services created by the government. Many poor families enlist their sons into monasteries where they are provided free food and education. In Buddhist tradition, laymen earn spiritual credit by offering alms to the monks and it is their route towards achieving Nirvana-freedom from the cycle of rebirth.

Monks participated in the 1988 protests; in the 2007 demonstrations, they came to symbolize the voice of dissent against the junta. Htun says the political consciousness of the monks is in keeping with Buddha's teachings. "Buddha lays down a code of conduct for the rulers," says Htun, "and if the rulers fail to follow it, it is then the responsibility of the monks to bring them back to the right path."

The Troubled Way Forward

The international community, including the United Nations, frequently expresses its support for Suu Kyi and urges the junta to release her. Experts and pro-democracy activists hope that through international pressure and multilateral diplomatic approaches (such as the approach taken with North Korea on its nuclear program), Myanmar's junta can be brought to the table to talk to other stakeholders, including political parties and various ethnic groups, and to embark on a path towards national reconciliation.

An October 2008 report by the International Crisis Group calls for more international aid saying: "Twenty years of aid restrictions--which see Myanmar receiving twenty times less assistance per capita than other least-developed countries--have weakened, not strengthened, the forces for change." Many argue otherwise, however. South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu writes (WashPost) that the junta "would probably interpret an easing of sanctions as an acknowledgment that it has won the struggle with its people and proved its right to rule." He says diplomatic engagement will only work if the sanctions hit their mark.

Weigh in on this issue by emailing CFR.org.

Source: Human Rights Watch (HRW)

Date: 17 Sep 2009


Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada
Kasumigaseki 2-2-1
Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 100-8919
Japan

Re: Burma Policy Review

Dear Foreign Minister Okada:

We write to you on the occasion of your inauguration as Foreign Minister of Japan to discuss the human rights situation in Burma.

Human rights violations remain rampant all over the world, including in Asia. Across the region, civilians are killed in wars, millions of people are forced to flee violence and persecution as refugees, and many are unlawfully jailed for expressing views critical of their governments. While the past Japanese government made commitments to promote human rights and the rule of law, it was reticent in translating these commitments into concrete and visible actions. Now is the time for Japan to revise its foreign policy and make promotion of human rights a central pillar. Burma is a very good place to start.

As repression continues ahead of the elections planned for 2010, we believe the new Japanese government should urgently undertake a thorough policy review on Burma. As intractable as the situation in Burma may seem, Japan does have a role to play in improving the human rights and political situation there.

As you know, Burma remains one of the most repressive countries in the world. There are strict limits on basic freedoms of expression, association, and assembly. The intelligence and security services are omnipresent. Censorship is draconian. More than 2,200 political prisoners suffer in Burma's squalid prisons. These prisoners include many members of the political opposition, courageous protestors who peacefully took to the streets in August and September 2007, and individuals who criticized the government for its poor response to Cyclone Nargis in May 2008. All have been sentenced after sham trials, summary hearings that often take place in the prisons themselves. The recent conviction of Aung San Suu Kyi on ridiculous charges reminded the world of the despotic nature of the military government that has been in power since 1962.

At the same time, military abuses connected to armed conflicts in ethnic minority areas continue. Human Rights Watch has for many years documented the recruitment and deployment of child soldiers, the use of forced labor, and summary killings, rape, and other abuses against minority populations, including the Rohingya, Chin, Shan, and Karen. Recent attacks against Shan and Karen communities have once again led to large-scale displacement of ethnic communities and needless death and hardship. Fighting between the Burmese army and ethnic militias has also driven thousands of refugees from northern Shan state into China.

In addition to rampant violations of civil and political rights, corruption and mismanagement have meant that under military rule Burma has become one of the poorest countries in Asia. The government seems to care little for the basic welfare of its people; to give but one example, while the Burmese government received an estimated US$150 million per month in gas export revenue in 2008, its last announced annual budget to address its AIDS crisis in 2007 was a mere $172,000. While most Burmese struggle to subsist, the country's leaders have the comfort of "5 star" lives of luxury generated through corruption from the plunder of the country's natural resources.

There is no mystery in the military's long-term intentions, as the ruling junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), has been totally open about its plans to stage-manage an electoral process that will ensure continued military rule with a civilian face. Burma's generals have learned from their resounding defeat by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy in 1990 and periodic protest movements that it cannot risk staging a credible election (indeed, last year the government announced a 98 percent turnout and a 92 percent vote in favor of a new constitution, just months after the 2007 street protests that rocked the country). They doubtlessly hope that this will mollify countries that have imposed sanctions and oppose military rule and end the pressure to make progress on political reform and national reconciliation, and encourage large-scale international aid flows.

Based on the experience of the 2008 referendum, the harsh prison sentences handed down to activists, the lack of serious dialogue with the political opposition and Burma's many ethnic groups, the stonewalling of United Nations and ASEAN efforts to discuss political and human rights issues, the lack of any reform measures, and the trial and conviction of Aung San Suu Kyi on ridiculous charges, it is clear that there will be no meaningful change in the political direction of the country before or after the 2010 elections unless concerned governments and international bodies take steps to change the SPDC's calculations.

We recognize the scale of this challenge. The military government has close relations with its neighbors China, India, and Thailand, and has large revenue streams from these countries from the sale of gas, timber, gems, and other natural resources. China, Russia, and even South Africa have protected the government from action at the United Nations Security Council. Japan, thankfully, changed its policy in this respect in 2006, yet still has fallen far short of being a strong public critic of Burma. In short, while much of the world sees Burma's rulers as isolated, ruthless, and despised, from the SPDC's perspective it has influential friends in the region that provide massive resources through the purchase of energy and other commodities, and shield Burma from concerted action at the UN, ASEAN, and other international fora on subjects like effective arms embargoes or targeted sanctions.

According to Keiichi Ono, Director of the First Southeast Asia Division of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan's current policy towards Burma is predicated on "retaining dialogue, providing limited economic assistance, [and] cooperating with the UN and international community." This approach misses an important tool for change: using Japan's international and regional standing and status as one of the world's largest donors to put public pressure on the SPDC.

For years, Japan has been reluctant to exert pressure on the SPDC and its senior leadership. Now is the time to consider a different and stronger approach. With the right calibration and a more unified approach with other states, pressure on Burma can work.

We suggest that Japan's policy review should, therefore, aim at making more effective all three prongs of Japanese policy - diplomacy, sanctions and aid - and not placing one ahead of the others.

Diplomacy

On diplomacy, Human Rights Watch supports Japanese government efforts to speak to the Burmese government at the highest levels. But there should be no wishful thinking or illusions that more conciliatory talk from Japan and others will somehow cause Burma's senior leadership to alter its plans. The Burmese military is committed to remaining in complete control, whether through managed elections or the current system and has exploited engagement by the Japanese government and others by making close contact and relations the primary goal of Japanese policy. The Japanese government should make it clear that as a rights-respecting democracy Japan stands by its principles and the protection of the rights of Burmese and a genuine and credible political reform process needs to be the primary goal of any talks with the Burmese leadership.

Second, Japan should keep in mind that the Burmese officials who normally speak to foreigners - whether the foreign minister or the functionaries involved in the post-Nargis reconstruction - have no real authority in the government and are probably as fearful of Than Shwe and other senior leaders as anyone else. Many foreign diplomats and others who have invested a great deal of time and energy in pursuing relations with the second tier of leadership have told us that it was time largely wasted. Those who do have the authority - Senior General Than Shwe, Vice-Senior General Maung Aye, Lt. General Thura Shwe Mann, Prime Minister Thein Sein, and key regional commanders - usually do not engage with outsiders. Talking to the deputy health minister and mid-level civil servants can be useful in facilitating humanitarian relief and resolving discrete practical problems on the ground. But it is not a way of addressing the fundamental issues in the country or causes of friction between Burma and Japan - including the recent meeting of Htay Oo, minister for agriculture and irrigation and secretary-general of the Union Solidarity and Development Association, with your predecessor Hirofumi Nakasone.

On key political matters, the engagement that has taken place thus far has not been very meaningful and in some cases has even been counterproductive. During the crackdown following the 2007 demonstrations, for instance, diplomatic action merely allowed the SPDC to buy time and pretend that it was engaged in serious discussions. For example, the efforts of the UN secretary-general's special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, have failed to achieve anything of substance. The situation has devolved to the point that at times getting a visa or a short meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi was treated as a success, with the unintended but predictable consequence of being used by the SPDC for its own propaganda. Ban Ki-Moon's most recent visit also failed to achieve anything of substance; he was not even allowed to meet Aung San Suu Kyi and was given empty promises to release political prisoners.

Human Rights Watch recommends that Japan appoint its own special envoy. That envoy should have a direct line to the foreign minister and specific instructions to engage in a principled way with the SPDC and other key bilateral and multilateral actors. Vigorous and principled diplomacy is needed with China, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and other influential actors, to ensure that new revenue streams are not made available to the government.

We also encourage you to consider the establishment of a Burma Contact Group or some form of multilateral grouping, in close contact with the US, to meet and regularly discuss diplomatic engagement with the Burmese government on a range of issues. This could have the effect of converging the views and policies of China, India, Thailand, Indonesia and others, and gradually minimize the ability of the SPDC to play states off against each other. There is considerable common ground on a range of issues, including the need for political reform and credible elections involving the political opposition, concern over Burma's trafficking in heroin and methamphetamines, and the need for a regional approach to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Another topic could be the growing defense links between Burma and North Korea, as evidenced by the recent publication of photos showing North Korean assistance building tunnel complexes in Burma. Such a Contact Grouping would, of course, have to be predicated on Japan sticking to human rights principles and not engaging in diplomatic horse-trading on core issues of reform.

As the United Nations has long been the focal point for diplomacy on Burma, we urge Japan to keep supporting the continuation of a special envoy of the secretary-general. It is crucial that the secretary-general and the special envoy not get sucked into the game of access or high-level meetings being the goal or a sign of progress. The envoy must be an individual with the principles, skills, and backing of the international community to make an impact.

Sanctions

There is now a strong and even emotional debate on sanctions against Burma. Some argue that sanctions have not had any discernible impact on the military government and should be lifted. Others argue that for political and technical reasons they have never been properly implemented and, therefore, more pressure should be applied by imposing sanctions on additional companies and individuals, and also by encouraging countries and institutions that have not imposed sanctions to do so.

Part of the problem is that this debate tends to treat all sanctions as the same, when in fact they should be differentiated. In our work in various countries around the globe, we have found that properly imposed targeted sanctions can be effective in bringing about improvements in human rights. Targeted sanctions include arms embargoes and restrictions on military assistance, travel bans on individuals, financial sanctions on individuals and entities, and investment and trade sanctions that are specifically focused on companies or economic sectors of greatest concern.

Perhaps the most effective of these are financial sanctions. As with countries like the US, EU, Switzerland, Australia, and Canada, which already have financial sanctions in place, we urge Japan to impose financial sanctions as part of a coordinated approach to put maximum pressure on Burma's leaders. Human Rights Watch supports sanctions, including financial sanctions, targeted at leading officials, both military and civilian, who bear responsibility for abuses. Targeted sanctions don't impose hardship on ordinary people, but do provide leverage if effectively implemented. Going after financial transactions by key individuals in the SPDC and others with close ties to the oil and gas authority and other key revenue-generating entities in Burma will require the dedication of intelligence resources and continual monitoring and adjustment by Japan, as it does by the US and other governments which have imposed financial sanctions. These individuals are at the apex of the system inside Burma and susceptible to this kind of coordinated pressure.

Human Rights Watch also believes Japan, as a leading proponent of human security at the UN Security Council, should pursue openings for targeted military sanctions through the UN Security Council's agenda on children and armed conflict. The Security Council has stated in two resolutions (SC Res. 1539 and Res. 1612) that it will consider bans on the export and supply of small arms, light weapons, and other military equipment and assistance to parties that refuse to end their recruitment and use of child soldiers. The Burmese military retains thousands of children in its ranks and has been identified repeatedly since 2002 by the UN secretary-general for its continued recruitment and use of child soldiers. While the imposition of sanctions by the Security Council against Burma has proven nearly impossible, the children and armed conflict agenda provides a useful avenue for stronger Security Council action. A credible threat of military sanctions can be used as leverage to gain concrete improvements in ending the widespread recruitment and use of children as soldiers.

Humanitarian and Development Aid

On humanitarian aid, Human Rights Watch has long called for increased assistance to deal with acute humanitarian needs in Burma. Japan funding can increase on certain conditions outlined below. But first, it is necessary to recognize that the cause of Burma's humanitarian problems is not a lack of available resources. Burma has made gas deals with Thailand that provides the government its largest source of revenue, worth approximately $2 billion annually. A new deal to supply natural gas to China via an overland pipeline will significantly add to that sum. Burma's leaders also count on large earnings from sales of gems and timber, and ongoing hydroelectric projects are expected to generate additional lucrative export revenue.

Despite these large revenue sources, the military government spends next to nothing on the welfare of its people. The largest share of the state budget is allocated to the military, as much as 40 percent, while combined social spending is estimated to be a paltry 0.8 percent of GDP for 2008/09, making public expenditures on health and education in Burma among the lowest in the world. Huge numbers of Burmese live in grinding poverty, brought upon by decades of government economic mismanagement and corruption. For this reason, the suggestion that foreign business investment in Burma would somehow open up the country is fallacious. Foreign investment in Burma is concentrated on the extraction of natural resources and building of hydropower projects. The resulting revenues are largely squandered, stolen, or used for military spending instead of to meet humanitarian and development needs, thereby resulting in the strengthening of those in power and robbing the Burmese people of basic economic and social rights.

Donor discussions with the SPDC over the provision of humanitarian assistance should not neglect the government's ability to contribute substantially to such assistance. Donors should also remember that the purpose of humanitarian aid is humanitarian - to keep people alive and healthy - not political. No one should expect humanitarian aid itself to have a significant political effect in opening up the country or changing the government's policies. Donors will also need to stress the importance of transparency and accountability in the delivery of humanitarian aid, including the need for approaches that strengthen civil society rather than existing corrupt power structures and that respond to the views and needs of ordinary people.

The SPDC does not want to be totally dependent on China. For this reason, it also wants assistance from Japan, the US, and EU. Development aid is a very important incentive for change in Burma. However, we do not believe development aid from Japan or other countries should be made available until there is significant political reform, progress on human rights, better governance, and the possibility of consulting civil society and local communities in setting development goals. Likewise, World Bank lending for development should also not be resumed until these conditions are met. Unfortunately, the SPDC gives priority to development initiatives that are "vanity projects" for its leaders, facilitate abusive military campaigns, and help generate funds to strengthen military rule, when what is needed is development that would alleviate the poverty and deprivation of ordinary citizens.

Helping the Burmese people is one of the most difficult and intractable problems the world has faced in recent decades. We don't underestimate the challenge, but we think a new and principled approach by the international community with Japanese leadership can make a significant difference in the years ahead.

Sincerely,

Kenneth Roth
Executive Director

Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA

Burmese quota refugees favoured over Iraqis

Burmese quota refugees favoured over Iraqis

the COPENHAGEN post online

The immigration minister has changed her mind about accepting Iraqi refugees under a UN programme
Denmark will now not be taking Iraqi quota refugees from Jordan and Syria this year, instead favouring Burmese refugees in Malaysia.
Despite announcing just two months ago that Denmark could accept the Iraqi refugees as agreed by the UN, Immigration Minister Birthe Rønn Hornbech has now said they will not be the first choice this year.
Head of the Social Liberal party Margrethe Vestager is demanding an explanation for the u-turn and said she suspected that domestic politics may be responsible. ‘Birthe Rønn doesn’t want to be in a position where she is throwing Iraqis out of the country, while at the same time bringing more in,’ said Vestager to Politiken newspaper.
The minister did not wish to elaborate on the reasons for the change, but told the paper that past experience showed that Burmese refugees were good at integrating into their new country.
Quota refugees are different to asylum seekers in that they are resettled in a country following agreement with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
Denmark has agreed to take approximately 500 of these refugees annually, who are selected under a number of criteria, such as geographical regions, those who are critically ill and need treatment, those who are at risk of being sent back to their original country or those who are currently in danger where they are living.

"Chin Refugee Detainee Died at Lenggeng Camp"

18, September, 2009

Kuala Lumpur

Where is the humanity and human rights for Myanmar Refugees in Malaysia ? 

Mr. Aung Lyn from Khua Kawng, Rezua Township died at Lenggeng Immigration camp on 15 September, 2009. Mr. Aung Lyn arrivied at Malaysia in February, 2007 and he stayed for more than two years in Malaysia. He was arrested on 29 May, 2009 in a raid of People Volunteer Corp (RELA), Immigration and Police at Putra Jaya where he worked.

According to the report of his brother, Mr. Aung Lyn was still healthy when he called him on 28 August but a moment later, his brother suddenly heard the news that Aung Lin died at the depot. His death is unbelievable and very difficult to bear for us, he added.

His fellow inmate also informed to Chin Refugee Committee, saying he was swelling and died within a few days. We believed that he might have been suffering from Meningitis. When he felt sick, his eyes became yellow and felt weak. A moment later, he died because he was neglected to admit to hospital for medical treatment by camp authorities.

After he died, his remaining was taken by the camp authority to Seremban hospital without giving information to any refugee organization and NGO so any organization could not know where the remaining was being kept. After three days, the Chin Refugee Committee came to know that his body was taken to Seremban Hospital. Fortunately, the body was released with the help of Chin refugee leaders without pay.

According to his relatives and villagers in Malaysia, one of Aung Lyn brother-in-laws also passed away at General Hospital, Kuala Lumpur on 17 July, 2009. He also was arrested for being undocumented and detained at Kajang Immigration camp. When he became sick, the camp authority admitted him to the hospital but he passed away a week later. He left his wife with seven months pregnancy, and the wife is being taken cared by the villagers in Malaysia.

An NGO, which helps the refugees, denounced the situation inside the detention camp that the camp authority always denies to access for medical treatment. The main infected diseases spread due to the drinking water and mice (rats), the NGO added. As the camp authority do not provided drinking water, the tap water is used for drinking which comes from dirty tank where dead rats are floating.

All refugees rights are human rights ! No matter if you do not respect us or the ducument we have but better pay respect International Basic Human Rights. 




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Nationality blues - suffer the little children

Writer: ANUCHA CHAROENPO
Published: 24/09/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News

Nationality blues - suffer the little children

The case of 12-year-old Mong Thongdee - the stateless boy who represented Thailand in a paper plane competition in Japan and won first prize in the team competition and third prize in an individual category - is a reminder to authorities that they need to solve the problem of stateless children as quickly as possible.

The problem has existed for a long time yet no serious action has been taken to resolve it. These children, most born to Burmese migrant workers and members of Burma's ethnic minorities who now live in the country, are deemed stateless and are liable to arrest on sight and deportation.

The Interior Ministry estimates there are more than 500,000 Burmese children in the country and thousands more are born in Thai hospitals each year.

According to an amendment to the 1992 Thai Nationality Act, the law specifically bars these children from being granted Thai citizenship even though they are born here.

Without Thai nationality, these stateless children are missing out on higher education and other basic public welfare. The Education Ministry only allows them to receive the same basic education as that given to Thai children, but there are reports some are still being denied their rights to receive an education in some Thai schools because of racial prejudice.

Most of the children have no access to higher education because they are denied identification records at birth by the authorities. That means the children cannot go to a third country or even stay in Thailand.

Compounding their hopeless situation is that they cannot return to Burma as legal Burmese citizens. Because Thailand is not a party to the 1950 Refugee Convention, it is not obliged to provide protection and humanitarian assistance to a refugee child or a child seeking refugee status.

The country maintains that refugees are "illegal persons", so refugee children born in Thailand are denied citizenship.

Mong, a son of a Shan minority couple, is now studying at the Prathomsuksa 6 (Grade 6) level in a Chiang Mai primary school, but has a bleak future when it comes to higher education. Even though Science and Technology Minister Kalaya Sophonpanich has bathed in the spotlight of his fame by promising to grant the stateless boy a scholarship until he completes a doctorate degree, who knows when the time comes whether there will be a problem over his stateless status again.

The case of Mong - whose application for a passport to represent Thailand in the paper plane contest was initially denied by the Interior Ministry - is just the tip of the iceberg of the stateless people situation. Many who finish high school are unable to pursue higher education at university.

To solve this problem, the authorities should sit down and brainstorm a solution, particularly regarding the legal aspects.

At the same time, the National Human Rights Commission should get cracking and start to fight for the basic rights of these stateless children for humanitarian reasons, as denying them their rights will do more harm than good. Without basic rights they might be forced to work illegally and get dragged into the sordid world of drug and people trafficking.

Chin Refugees Continue to Flee Harsh Conditions in Burma

Hard economic times and human rights abuses in Burma’s Chin State continue to cause ethnic Chin to leave for foreign countries. Some become migrant workers, refugees, asylum seekers, and some lose their lives during the journey.

The discovery of 22 corpses, mostly believed to be Chin refugees, floating in the Andaman Sea off Thailand’s west coast is recent confirmation of the desire of Chin people to seek a better life in a neighboring country.

The original group, believed to have numbered up to 40 people, left from Kawthaung by boat, a local resident said. He said Chin and Rohingya often cross the border with the help of illegal brokers.

The Kawthaung resident said that in the past, Chin usually traveled at night, preferring to enter Malaysia, Thailand and India.

Besides the lack of jobs, Chin flee Burma because of the violation of the rights of women and children, forced labor, political suppression, racial discrimination and religious persecution, according to the Chin Human Rights Organization,

CHRO estimates that at least 60,000 Chin refugees live in India and 20,000 live in Malaysia. Human Rights Watch estimates 40,000 to 50,000 Chin live in Mizoram, India.

Tin Maung Shwe, an executive committee member of the Chin Refugee Centre, said, “People don’t get full human rights in Burma. So, many people want to leave for the countries which have full human rights.”

“The economy is also a main reason." he said. "People just earn enough money for daily survival. Some say that they have no jobs in Burma.”

Despite arriving in a neighboring country, harassment and human rights abuses can continue, he said. Many refugees encounter new problems and dangers.

“The main harassment is the ongoing arbitrary detention,” said Tin Maung Shwe. “When Malaysia’s authorities launch a crackdown on migrants, they even arrest people who are recognized as refugees by UNHCR. Pregnant women and children are also arrested, and some women have given birth to babies in prison.”

In Malaysia, it is difficult to work, learn or stay in the country even after being recognized as a refugee, the CRC says.

In spite of the difficulties, many Chin say conditions are still better than in Burma, said Lain H Sakhong, the general secretary of the Chin National League for Democracy and Ethnic Nationalities Council.

He said his former Chin teacher told him that in a foreign country at least they had food to eat, but in Chin State that was not true any more.

“It is very painful to hear those words,” he said. “If they [Chins] were able to live in their home peacefully, why would they flee?”

Source : Click here

A StART for underprivileged children

AN academy formed by Foetus International to nurture and cultivate creative talent among underprivileged children was launched recently by Social Welfare Department director-general Datuk Meme Zainal Rashid and Foetus International executive chairman Datuk Vincent Lee.

The StART Society organises and conducts programmes in art, music, drama, dancing and performing arts for underprivileged children from various orphanages, including Shelter, Ti Ratana, Rumah Kids, Agathians, Stepping Stone, and Beth Shalom.

"Here at StART, we provide children a safe place to express and articulate their feelings and emotions through the arts to help them unlock their God-given potential," explained Lee. "The future of these children is only as bright as the inspirations we provide today, hence, we envision them becoming wholesome adults armed with potential, character, skills, artistic and musical abilities."

When the classes commenced in April this year, the society attracted only 60 children. Today, it has some 150 children participating in its programmes.

StART’s recent collaboration with the Myanmar Refugee Centre has resulted in 60 marginalised children coming to the society to learn dancing and singing.

"We provide coaching, learning and mentoring sessions in the different disciplines," said StART programme director Joshua Lee.

He said the lessons and workshops are delivered by professionals from the creative industries, including prominent corporate business heads and artistes.

"Our winning formula also includes continuity and long-term mentor-mentee relationship between the child and teacher."

StART recently hosted a buka puasa event for the children. Guests who attended the function included Toh Puan Ena Ling, the wife of former MCA president Tun Ling Liong Sik, and Miss Malaysia World 2009 finalists.

The children also performed the theme song for World Children’s Day 2002 with guest artistes Ragged Tigers.

The evening ended with an auction of the children’s artworks, with proceeds being channelled to StART.



For more on StART, visit www.start.org.my or contact Joshua Lee at 012-6511 656 or Joshua.lee@start.org.my.

Click here to read original webpage

Catholic group aids Myanmar refugees in Malaysia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source : Link

http://www.catholicnews.sg/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3047&Itemid=63#yvComment3047

Thousands flee Myanmar for Thailand

Thousands flee Myanmar for Thailand

Tajikistan News.Net
Friday 18th September, 2009

Children as young as 10 are being forced to work as porters for the Myanmar military and ethnic minority Karen troops.

The accelerating trend comes amid intensifying conflict near the border with Thailand, according to refugees in northern Thailand, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports.

One village in a Karen region houses 95 Myanmar refugees, including thirty nine children under the age of 12. All say they were taken from their villages in Myanmar (which is also known as Burma) and forced to work as military porters.
The increased press-ganging of villagers, including children, into work as porters comes in the wake of intensified fighting between Myanmar government forces supported by elements of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) on one side and the mostly Christian Karen National Union (KNU) troops on the other, the refugees said.

Thousands more are believed also to have fled their homes in Myanmar since June and to be hiding in villages on the Thai side of the border, according to human rights and aid workers.

The prolonged military conflict in the region has meant that none of the Karen children has ever been able to attend school.
"I am 10 years old," one shy girl told a visiting reporter.

Another, who said she was 16, said she had to carry dozens of cans of rice in a basket on her back for five days at a stretch and was given only rice with salt and chili peppers to eat.
"When it rained, we had to sleep under trees, so we would get completely wet," she said.

Myanmar soldiers forced anyone who had no physical disability to carry goods and ammunition for them, the refugees said. No one was paid for his or her labor.

The porters said they don't know if the troops who press-ganged them into service belong to the DKBA or a joint force comprising soldiers for the DKBA and the ruling junta.

Fathers with children able to walk on their own but not big enough to work as porters themselves must hold onto their children while carrying ammunition on their backs, sometimes pulling the children through heavy jungle vegetation, they said.

Parents and children are required to sleep separately to prevent them from running away, they said, and the men are told their wives will be taken by soldiers if they try to flee.
Parents in the camp said they had no choice but to bring their children, as the only people left behind in their villages were very elderly or too disabled to look after anyone but themselves.
One woman carrying her three-year-old son in a sling in front of her demonstrated how she had to carry artillery shells in a basket on her back at the same time.

If her child cried, she was told to put her hand over his face to silence him or face a reprimand from the soldiers.

She said she had had to carry the shells for four days at a time and was allowed to stop and rest only two or three times a day.

"In the past, they would need porters only once a month," said the head of the village that the group of refugees left behind them.

"But now they need them three or four times a month, and we would even have to go to the front line. We would have to supply three soldiers per village, and if the village was bigger we would have had to supply up to 20 soldiers," he said.
"If we cannot supply the soldiers we would have to pay 30,000 baht (about U.S. $880). If we cannot give them the money, they would send us to jail," he added.

Karen refugees have so far received no aid from international agencies, nor from the Thai government, they said.

Sometimes, soldiers from the DKBA stole their goods, even on the Thai side of the border, they added.

"When I left I brought with me the best bullock I had, but when I got to Thailand the DKBA stole the bullock from me," she said.
"I had to pay them 1,500 baht (U.S. $44) to get my bullock back."

According to the Myanmar-based Karen Human Rights Group, the DKBA began a stepped-up recruitment drive in August 2008 in response to an escalating series of DKBA and joint DKBA/government attacks on KNU and Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) positions in the Dooplaya and Pa'an Districts of Karen state.
Those attacks have greatly intensified since the start of the year, the group said in a report published on its Web site.

Partly under the control of the Myanmar government, the DKBA has again increased recruitment as it prepares to transform itself into a Border Guard Force as required by the military junta ahead of elections in 2011.
"By June 7, over 3,000 villagers, including the Ler Per Her camp population of just over 1,200 people as well as nearly 2,000 residents from other villages in the area, had fled to neighboring Thailand to avoid fighting as well as forced conscription into work as porters and human minesweepers for DKBA and SPDC forces," the group said Aug. 25.

The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, says there are more than 100,000 registered Myanmar refugees inside Thailand today, most of them Karen.

(Original reporting in Myanmar by Khin May Zaw. Translated by Soe Thinn. Myanmar service director: Nancy Shwe. Written for the Web in English by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han).

The Rela raided Chin Refugees residences in Malaysia

Sunday, 13 September, 2009

Kuala Lumpur

This morning, at 8:00 am local time, People Volunteer Corp (RELA), Immigration and Police raided Chin refugees’ residences at Taman Maluri in Malaysia. Exactly, the raid was begun at 8:00 am local time and about 200 Chin refugees were arrested.

Generally, the raid was lead by the Rela and they entered every Chin refugees’ homes and arrested all the people both the UNHCR card holders, UNHCR‘s RSD document (Refugee Status Determination) holders and asylum-seekers (CRC card holders). All arrestees were taken to Taman Maluri police station nearby their residences by five Lorries for questioning.
Scene of Chin refugees leaving from police station

“As soon as we arrived to Police station the Police and Immigration checked our cards and luckily, they released us after 3 hour of checking and questioning. They released all UNHCR card holders and CRC card holders first. But those holding RSD documents were ordered to remain. After the Rela troop left, the police asked for money to those (RSD) document holders”. But some paid and some refused. But all were released except seven newly arrived refugees, who are undocumented were taken by RELA and still unknown where they are being detained.

During this raid Rela arrested 10 children including four months and five months old babies.

A chin refugee woman sexually abuse by police

VOCR
13 September, 2009

A Chin refugee’s woman in Puchong formally known as Sung Sung was sexually harassed by the two police at local time 11:00 AM on 08, August, 2009 while she was shopping at Mini Market near from her house in Banda Putri, Puchong.

Ms. Sung Sung is a housewife and she has eight months old child. She was recognized refugee and she had done medical check up under UNHCR schedule for refugees. The incident was happened on day time while the husband was working at different palace.

She said that the two polices without uniform came to our block and they called me and asked me to show Malaysian IC. Because I am not local woman and as I have nothing to show I take-out the UNHCR card and I show them. But the two polices were laugh at me and saying this card is useless and you can do nothing with this card inside our country. They onboard me inside the car and the Malay man flirted my whole body.

Not only the Malay man flirt my whole body but also asked me to show my wallet which contains RM 38 and he took ten Ringgit. He also scolded me and asked me to bring them at my home, but later on, his fellow prohibited him to do so. After his fellow advised him not to be done I was released from this cruel ordeal.

“Even though we the Chin refugee women are not involved at prostitution we have encountered sexual harassment. I am very shameful with my husband. I don’t like all the Chin refugee women to be encountered this kind of sexual harassment” she continued.


The Chin Refugee Committee (CRC) refers this case to UNHCR office and the UNHCR has done interview with Sung Sung regarding this matter. But they had not received any information from the UNHCR office yet.

Malaysian crackdown on trafficking could strand refugees

Malaysia has stepped up a crackdown on human trafficking despite fears that the campaign could prevent people escaping the dictatorship in neighbouring Myanmar.

Malaysian immigration official Mohammad Zaidi Che revealed that a human trafficker could face 35 years in prison for smuggling 12 people out of Myanmar last week.

The man had charged ethnic Rohingya and Chin people about £300 each to help them flee the country, which has been tightly controlled by a military junta since the aborted 1990 elections.

The poll, which resulted in a party led by Aung San Suu Kyi and opposed to the military's domination of the country winning 392 out of 489 seats, was declared void and anti-government protests since then have been savagely repressed.

According to the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), this repression has also been directed at Rohingya and Chin people in the north of Myanmar, causing many to attempt to flee.

Malaysia estimates that more than 150,000 Myanmese migrants are in the country but the UNHCR considers at least 43,000 of these to be refugees and has expressed concern that any crackdown on trafficking should not result in people being sent back across the frontier.

Myanmar refugees weave together self-reliance and hope

14 Sep 2009 15:12:20 GMT
Source: UNHCR

Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
FARUK PARA, Bangladesh, September 14 (UNHCR) – Kil Cer, a shy, petite 34-year Chin refugee from Myanmar, can be found every morning weaving blankets along with five other women in the village community centre in this remote lush green village in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

But they're not just turning out the colourful traditional blankets their mothers and grandmothers have always made. In their own quiet way they've woven together a small-scale economic revolution in the settlement of 700, liberating their families from debt and dependence on handouts.

"I am happy now," says Kil Cer. "Before, it was a difficult struggle." Largely because of Kil Cer's weaving skills, her community has paid back all their debts. They are able to take care of their families without UNHCR's support and have invested money in other businesses, such as banana plantations, that also employ the local Bangladeshi host community, known as the Bawm.

"We speak almost the same language as they do and they have been very good to us," Kil Cer, a mother of two, says about her hosts.

Behind the success is a new UNHCR approach to developing self-reliance as part of UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres's focus on refugees living outside camps. Learning from earlier projects that gave grants to refugees who did not have the proper skills or business education to use the money properly, UNHCR began relying on the expertise of local businesses to develop the skills of refugees in Bangladesh living outside camps.

Eight months ago, Kil Cer and other refugees in the village were heavily in debt after many of their projects – small rice mills, grocery shops and farming – failed. For many years, they had relied on UNHCR to pay their rent and give them money for basic commodities. Even when Kil Cer tried to support herself with weaving, she was only able to earn US$2 per blanket – hardly enough to cover her expenses.

"Like many girls in Myanmar, I was taught to weave by my mother in Myanmar when I was 15 years old," she says. In Bangladesh, she began weaving blankets and passed on the skill to a few other young women, both refugees and Bangladeshis.

The turning point came when UNHCR introduced her to Samantha Morshed, chief executive officer of Hathay Bunano, a company that was already employing rural Bangladeshi women and other disadvantaged people to make soft toys for the international market under fair trade rules. She provided free professional advice to Kil Cer and her team on improving their products and marketing them, to make best use of a UNHCR start-up loan of US$250.

Today their offerings include shawls, scarves, ponchos, baby blankets, picnic blankets, bedspreads and bags marketed under Expression in Exile, a brand that is becoming popular with the urban elite in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka. Within a month, they made a profit of US$800, a substantial amount for the residents of Farak Pura, and today demand is outstripping supply.

"I was excited when I first saw the blankets from Expression in Exile and am happy to give the group a little direction in terms of colours, sizes, pricing and raw materials," says Morshed. "I see no reason why these blankets cannot achieve mainstream export sales in the near future."

Now that her daily needs are taken care of, Kil Cer is already looking to a future she could scarcely have dreamed of a year ago. "I want to invest the money in my children's education," she says. Her 19-year-old colleague, Siang Khin Par, has similar high hopes: "I do this because I would like to be self-reliant. I would like to learn computing and English."

UNHCR Representative in Bangladesh Saber Azam says the programme is paying benefits not only for the refugees but for Bangladesh as well.

"Ensuring that refugees are able to take care of themselves and their communities is often a more humanitarian activity than giving them free hand-outs for years," he says. "Kil Cer has also demonstrated how refugees can help their Bangladeshi hosts rather than being a burden on them."

By Jelvas Musau in Faruk Para and Arjun Jain in Dhaka, Bangladesh

UNHCR news

THAILAND Church fights to keep centers for migrant kids open

THAILAND Church fights to keep centers for migrant kids open

September 10, 2009 |  

 

BANGKOK (UCAN) -- Church workers serving migrant children from Myanmar in a southern province are opposing government plans to close down their centers.


Sister Prapatsorn Srivorakul with
migrant children from Myanmar at a
Jesuit Refugee Service centre in Ranong



The Church runs many educational centers in Ranong province, known as Thailand's "Burmese province." These provide basic education to children of Myanmar migrants just across the border.

However, the provincial governor last May announced plans to either close down the centers or place them under the jurisdiction of the education ministry.

Ranong governor Wanchat Wongchaichana, who took office earlier this year, said the province plans to repatriate illegal Myanmar migrants and has ordered that the 96 schools in the province be checked for illegal students.

The government has not set any deadlines for its plans yet.

"Plans to disband the centers for Burmese kids and repatriate them do not solve the problem," said Father Wichien Radomkit, director of Maria Learning Center in Ranong.

"If we send them back, they will only return to Thailand because they suffer a lot from the political situation in their own country," the Stigmatine priest told UCA News.

Father Wichien said he and other Church workers have held several discussions with provincial officials to explain the Church's stand on the matter. The last meeting was in mid-August.

"We explained about children's rights to education," the priest said. "It would be better if the Burmese kids were included in the education system as this would reduce social problems. This would also make it easier for their eventual repatriation because the authorities would have information about them."

Maria Learning Center, set up in 2005, teaches about 300 children subjects such as the English, Myanmar and Thai languages, mathematics and general knowledge. It also sponsors the education of 34 children at Thai government schools.

In Ranong, Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) also runs centers for migrant children from Myanmar.


                                     The living quarters of some Myanmar migrants in Ranong

Sister Prapatsorn Srivorakul, JRS project coordinator, explained that families flee Myanmar because they fear for their own personal safety. She warned that repatriated children could be forcibly enlisted as soldiers or sold in human trafficking.

The nun, who also joined the dialogue sessions with provincial officials, said without education these youngsters might become drug addicts, or engage in drug smuggling, prostitution and other crimes, which would affect the Thai community in Ranong.

The JRS project could help ease the burden on the Thai government, she asserted.

JRS helps build and maintain community-based educational centers, supports teachers' salaries, provides school uniforms, books and sporting gear, and grants scholarships to outstanding students to study in Thai schools.

It provides education for some 800 migrant children aged 5-14 in six educational centers under the guidance of 29 Myanmar and Thai teachers. It also sponsors the education of more than 100 children at 16 Thai schools.

Meanwhile local media reported that the Lawyers' Council of Thailand and other NGOs have also voiced opposition to the government's plan to shut down or take over educational centers for migrant children.

Ranong province has an estimated 200,000 Myanmar migrants and 100,000 local Thais. A JRS report says that most of the Myanmar migrants here are ethnic Mon.

These migrants usually work in the fishing industry, most of them illegally, which makes them vulnerable to exploitation and deportation.

Source :

http://www.ucanews.com/2009/09/10/church-fights-to-keep-centers-for-migrant-kids-open/

Rela Action & their power

New Straits Times
07-14-2004
Don't misuse power of arrest, Rela members warned
Edition: Main/Lifestyle; 2*
Section: Nation

SEREMBAN, Tues. - Rela officials empowered to arrest illegal immigrants were today warned not to abuse their powers. If they did, then they risked stern action, including expulsion from the voluntary corps.

Home Affairs Minister Datuk Azmi Khalid said they had to carry out their tasks responsibly and with commitment.
"The Government has agreed to empower them to check the documents of foreigners and to detain the illegals," he said. "I hope they will not abuse their powers as this would tarnish Rela's image.'

Earlier, ...

The Number Of Burmese Refugees Will Just Keep Growing

By Mike Giglio in Cover Story
Thursday, Sep. 3 2009 @ 2:36PM

A new stream of refugees began flowing out of Burma (or Myanmar) last month. Burmese troops broke a 20-year cease-fire with ethnic groups in the country's northeastern Shan region, causing an estimated 30,000 to flee across the border and into China.

The fighting is part of a trend toward more violence that will see yet another uptick in Burmese refugees, according to Jeremy Woodrum, director of the advocacy group U.S. Campaign for Burma.

"We could be looking at major conflict and refugee flows," Woodrum says.

In June, the Burmese military launched yet another attack against the Karen, which have been the most persecuted of the country's ethnic groups, causing 5,000 new refugees to flee into Thailand. As noted in this week's feature, the Karen are a large part of Houston's growing community of refugees from Burma.


Then in July, around 10,000 people fled within Burma after the military began attacking civilians further north. In all, there are at least 500,000 internally displaced people in eastern Burma, and between one and two million Burmese refugees are believed to be living in Thailand and Malaysia.

Burma's ruling military junta is trying to force splinter ethnic groups to join the national army or lay down their arms as part of last year's new constitution, which cements all levers of power into the military's hands. The junta will attempt to adopt a civilian face with an election planned for 2010. The party headed by Aung Sang Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest since it handily won the last elections in 1990, plans to boycott the election.

Woodrum expect many of the newly displaced people will make their way into the Thai camps from which the United States has drawn the bulk of the Burmese refugees it is resettling in growing numbers.

There are reports that some of those who have fled into China have started to return home. But Woodrow doesn't expect them to remain there for long.

"It has more to do with the human rights abuses that happen (after the fighting)," he says, noting that the Burmese military is infamous for raping local women, burning villages and destroying livestock and crops--as it has in places like Karen.
"They bleed the local population until it's not possible for them to survive. And then they flee."

Source : http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/09/burmese_refugees_fighting.php

Stop migrant child detentions

Friday, September 4th, 2009 04:14:00

Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) is appalled at the increasing number of child migrants detained at Immigration Detention Centres over the past five years. 

We have received shocking statistics released by the Home Ministry in a written reply to a Parliamentary question in the last June/July 2009 Parliament session.

In the question, Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tong asked the Home Ministry to state the number of individuals below the age of 18 who were detained in all 13 Immigration Detention Centres in the past five years – according to nationality, gender and age.

Malaysia has ratified the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) and is thus obligated to protect all children, including migrant, asylum-seeking and refugee children.

In the 2007 Concluding Observations of the Committee of the Rights of the Child, the Committee has expressed concerns over various aspects of migrant, asylum-seeking and refugee children, including detentions.

The committee specifically recommends the Malaysian Government stop detention of children in relation to immigration proceedings and to develop a legislative framework for the protection of asylum-seeking and refugee children.

The Malaysian government has to fulfil its obligations to protect the rights of children, regardless of the child’s citizenship. In addition, the government is obligated to provide protection to asylum-seeking and refugee children, according to Article 22 of the CRC.

Suaram calls on the government to stop arrests of migrant, asylum-seeking and refugee children and their families – and to release children who are currently detained in Immigration Detention Centres.

According to Article 37 of the CRC, the government shall use detention only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest time possible. If detention is necessary, we urge the government to place children in welfare homes together with both their parents.

We stress that under no circumstances should children be separated from their parents. Article 9 of the CRC states that the government must ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will.

Separating the children from their parents is and can be highly damaging to their psychological and emotional health.

Article 19 of the CRC states that the government is under obligation to take all appropriate measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse while in the care of the Immigration Detention Centre.

We strongly call upon the government to ensure, that the children are secure and not subjected to any violence or negligent treatment during arrest and detention.

We also call upon the government to act on the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to develop legislation for the protection of asylum seekers and refugees.

Suaram reiterates once again that the Malaysian government must seek to protect the rights of all children, including non-citizen children who currently reside in our country.

Temme Lee

Suaram Coordinator

Dire human rights situation in Malaysia

Dire human rights situation in Malaysia

By SHAILA KOSHY


koshy@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Human rights violations continue to occur almost on a daily basis in Malaysia, said the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) chairman Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman.

As an advisory body without executive power, he said there was nothing Suhakam could do to ensure the Government responded to and acted upon on its recommendations.

Although the Government had made significant improvement since the Suhakam Act became law on Sept 9, 1999, Malaysia did not have a perfect human rights record, Abu Talib said in his keynote address at Suhakam’s Malaysian Human Rights Day celebration on Wednesday.

He reminded participants at the celebration, which had the theme “Human Rights in Malaysia: The Last 10 Years,” that Suhakam was a “creature of statute” and that the solution lay in the hands of Malaysian voters.

“If you vote the right people into Parliament, they will amend the law to give us teeth to bite with,” he said in response to a question from the floor.

Earlier, in his speech, Abu Talib said Suhakam’s probe into complaints of abuses such as police inaction, excessive force, selective prosecution, death in custody, delays in citizenship applications and denial of rights to ancestral land found that most of these were legitimate.

“To many government employees, it would appear that the Universal Declaration (of Human Rights) is very remote from their everyday working lives,” he said.

He cautioned the Government that quelling dissenting voices and a free and open media would only encourage “whispering campaigns” that would result in social unrest.

Stressing that religion could not or should not be legislated, Abu Talib urged religious leaders to promote tolerance and respect for others.

Asked at a press conference about the boycott of the conference by 42 non-governmental groups because, among others, Suhakam had refused to send a team to monitor the anti-ISA (Internal Security Act) protest on Aug 1, Abu Talib said:

“It was not right for us to be there because the rally did not have a permit. We cannot act against the law. By not being there, it does not mean we cannot give an effective recommendation.

“We are for peaceful assemblies and we have recommended that the Police Act be amended so there is no need for a permit,” he said.

Commissioner Datuk Dr Chiam Heng Keng, who is the organising chairman, clarified that representatives from 32 of the 42 NGOs had turned up.

Speech by Tan Sri Abu Ralib Othman
Chairman of Suhakam
At the Malaysian Human Rights Day
Sept 9 2009

Excellencies; Distinguished Guests; Yang Bahagia Tan Sri Simon Sipaun, Vice-Chairman of Suhakam; Yang Bahagia Datuk Dr Chiam Heng Keng, Chairman of the Organising Committee

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning and welcome to the Suhakam 2009 Human Rights Day Conference.

We are honoured by your presence here this morning. We are grateful that you have accepted our invitation and have come with the common purpose of assessing what has changed for human rights and exploring ways in which the Government, individual and society can play a more meaningful and constructive role in the promotion and protection of human rights.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

For this year’s Human Rights Conference we have chosen the theme “Human Rights in Malaysia, The Last 10 Years” (the period since Suhakam was established) which has the objective of highlighting some of the human rights violations, the challenges facing the community in the field of human rights and how we should now proceed.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Suhakam was established by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia Act 1999 which came into force in April 2000. It was done at the initiative of the Government with little public involvement. At the start human rights activists expected little of Suhakam. They were sceptical of the Government’s motives and critical of Suhakam’s actions.

Nevertheless, Suhakam held faith that human rights have attained a paramount status in mankind’s aspiration for an equitable and happier world. In Malaysia’s multi-racial and multi-cultural society, this aspiration has no room for confrontation or acrimony. In order to address the issues of human rights and to promote human rights awareness, we held consultations and dialogues with various stakeholders.

Suhakam has gone a long way to fulfil its obligations and realise its goal, continuously expanding its operations to reach towns and villages in various parts of the country. It has imparted human rights awareness and knowledge to people of all segments of society ranging from government officials and corporations to the general population, including orang asli (indigenous peoples), the Penan and schoolchildren. We did our utmost to address the root cause of violation of human rights and to protect and promote the human rights of the people in a balanced and equitable way.

We believe that when rights and responsibilities are balanced, freedom is enhanced. In carrying out our duties and responsibilities, we are guided by Human Rights principles and good practices. If, therefore, we were perceived to have been biased, when we are not, it is because we lean in favour of human rights. Today, human rights is known to a wide spectrum of the population and the people are now exercising their fundamental human rights more than ever before.

Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nation, said that “Human Rights are the foundation of human existence and co-existence … . Human rights are what made us human. They are the principles by which we create the sacred home for human dignity.”

In essence, Human Rights are the people’s rights. To mention the essential, they are the right to life, right to citizenship, right to education, right to development, right to standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, right to housing, equality before the law, prohibition of arbitrary arrest and detention, the presumption of innocence, right to freedom of thought, conscience, choice and change of religion, the right to freedom of opinion and expression, right to freedom of peaceful assembly and the right to take part in the government of the country.

The most fundamental requirement is that human beings must be truly free in order to exercise such rights and freedom. Difference in status, race, language, sex, religion or political affiliation must not provide for discrimination regarding such rights. The exercise of those rights should not be the privilege of the happy few but all the people as envisioned by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which is greatly reflected in the Federal Constitution.

It is true that Article 29 of the Universal Declaration and the Constitution permit the imposition and limitation on such rights, but I submit, Ladies and Gentlemen, that the imposition of such limitation must be subject to the rule of law in a democratic society.

In my view legislation is not enough to ensure that human rights are respected everywhere and at all times, as the past 10 years made only too clear. We have during that time received and investigated complaints of police inaction, excessive use of force, selective investigations and prosecutions, death in police custody, selective enforcement of the law, arbitrary arrest and detention, denial of rights to ancestral land, delay in disposal of court cases and delay in processing application for citizenship.

We found most of the complaints to be legitimate.

To many government employees, it would appear that the Universal Declaration is very remote from their everyday working lives. But the preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights contains a fundamental guideline for every executive government agency that is respect for the human dignity of everyone with whom it comes into contact.

One should fully acknowledge the fact that members of the public have many relationships of dependency with the government from the day they were born to the day they leave this world. Government’s relations with the members of the public are not merely in law, determined by what is prescribed by law, there is always an element of personal interaction as well.

Many complaints about the authorities are based on the individual’s sense of not being taken seriously, particularly the underprivileged, the poor, the weak, indigenous people and the disabled. They believe that they have human rights and that those who caused their suffering were acting illegally. It is their hope to be treated with dignity and to have their rights respected and that it is the purpose and duty of the government to respect and protect their rights.

It is in this connection, Ladies and Gentlemen, that we should all welcome the policy of “People First and Performance Now” announced by the Honourable Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak.

In my view, the Prime Minister’s policy is consistent with the Principles of Human Rights of ensuring a life of dignity for all. It is the realisation of this landmark policy which is pro-human rights that the people look forward to.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Government is firmly committed to the promotion and protection of human rights on the basis of its commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Constitution, the establishment of Suhakam as well as from the values, customs and traditions of the people.

That may sit well, but we the Defenders of Human Rights must advance the agenda for a higher standard of accountability and performance consonant with international transparency practices. In this respect we welcome the decision of the Prime Minister to introduce KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) for government employees, from the highest to the lowest. It is our hope that the Government will ensure that its agencies are not only well-staffed but that its employees must be adequately equipped to cope with this aspect of their work. Appropriate internal regulations and procedures to promote and protect human rights can certainly help to achieve this.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Over the last 10 years Suhakam has conducted public inquiries on complaints of human rights violations, reviewed laws which clearly are contrary to the principles of human rights, such as the ISA (Internal Security Act), the Police Act, the Printing Press and Publications Act and the Official Secret Act, conducted research on land rights of indigenous people, organised forums and roundtable discussions on human rights education and recommended the ratification of the core human rights documents, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention Against Torture.

Suhakam had also recommended the introduction of a National Action Plan in the field of human rights and that major bills should be referred to a Select Committee of Parliament and State Assemblies after the first reading so that different sectors of society, such as experts, public interest groups and other concerned individuals, could give their input to the process.

Unfortunately, most of Suhakam’s findings and recommendations have yet to be implemented by the Government. As an advisory body without executive power there is nothing that Suhakam can do to ensure Government’s response and action to what it recommended. As such, human rights violations continue to occur almost on daily basis.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

There can be no denial that we live in a society based on rights. The rights of every human being are very precious and important. Every effort should be made to protect and promote the belief that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

Freedom, however, becomes meaningless in the absence of justice. No one should be allowed to take the law into his hand. It must not be that the guilty go unpunished, the dishonest rewarded, the custodians of the law become the biggest law breakers and that the court should strive in every case to determine what is right rather than who is right. Bad laws constitute the worst kind of injustice. A society not only needs good laws but also good people to restrain bad laws and enforce good laws without fear or favour.

Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquier, in 1742 said “There is no crueller tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.”

Justice should not only be done but also be perceived as having been done.

Only the Government has the ability to ensure that the police and other agencies respect human rights while maintaining peace and security, and that the judicial systems are independent and effective in providing access to justice to all citizens. They can allow citizens to freely voice their concerns on important issues such as the misuse of public funds, abuse of power and illegal practices. By not allowing citizens to freely voice their concerns on such issues, we are encouraging whispering campaigns that will ultimately result in social and public unrest. We need to be open to legitimate criticisms and react positively.

The only means of truly gauging the public pulse is to listen to voices of dissent, a process reinforced by free and open media. In this connection we welcome the Government’s decision to amend the Police Act, the ISA and other preventive legislations. What the nature of amendment is has yet to be seen.

Religious leaders can mobilise the hearts and minds of their adherents. They should not use their influence to advocate and commit gross human rights violations. The purpose of religion is to bring lasting happiness to Man and that is only possible through obedience to God’s commandments, performance of one’s prayers and religious duties and naturally, through proper social conduct and observance of the rights of others. Religious belief cannot and should not be legislated. Religious leaders, therefore, should spare no efforts to promote tolerance and respect for others within and outside their communities.

Business leaders have a responsibility because they can directly influence the quality of life enjoyed by their employees. For this reason, corporations should be held to the same standard of human rights protection as the Government. Also, those who achieve great wealth have a moral obligation to give back to the communities that have enabled their success.

Individually, each of us can become a leader for human rights in our own communities by showing respect not only for our friends and families but also for those who are different from us. For us who have the right to choose our leaders, our commitment is to choose a leader who is committed in advancing human rights and good governance.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Human rights violations can never be accepted and can never be a good thing for the people and the country. Human rights are our rights, now and for all times. When they are ignored, human misery and political instability all too easily follow.

In this regard I would like to commend on some of the positive moves made by the Government in its effort to protect public interest and human rights. In 2001, the Government amended Article 8 of the Constitution to include “gender” as one of the grounds prohibited from discrimination, improve the condition in detention centres and police lock-ups, ratified the Convention against Corruption, enacted the Anti Trafficking in Persons Act and the Person with Disabilities Act, addressed the plight of the poor, persons with disabilities, victims of trafficking and public housing, improve access to healthcare and providing free primary education.

Although the Government has made significant improvements in the protection of human rights in the last 10 years, this is not to say that Malaysia has a perfect human rights record. No Nation, no matter how enlightened, can claim to have a perfect human rights record.

Together, Suhakam with the Government, corporations, civil societies and the public can further improve human rights condition in the country. We simply have to work together instead of diverting our energy into futile and unproductive debate over wrongly perceived alternatives or who is right or wrong. Human rights should not be politicised and its principles selectively applied.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In the last 10 years, Suhakam has done a lot in promoting awareness in the promotion and protection of human rights and helping to ensure a life of dignity for all regardless of gender, status, ethnicity, religion and political affiliation. We still have much to do.

In this connection we derive some consolation from the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of US President Roosevelt, the Chairperson of the drafting committee of the Declaration of Human Right and I quote, “Promoting respect for human rights is a fulfilling – but never fulfilled -- obligation.”

I feel very privileged to have the opportunity of speaking this morning at this conference which is dedicated to addressing human rights issues in Malaysia. I do hope that all of you will have a substantive and productive discussion -- for human rights, justice and happiness of the people. I wish you all the best and a successful and fruitful conference.

Thank you.