Govt urged to allow Afghan refugees to work

By Teoh El Sen

PETALING JAYA: A report released today by local NGO, Health Equity Initiatives (HEI), has called on the government to allow refugees from Afghanistan the right to work in Malaysia.

It also urged the government to allow this community access to health care and education as accorded under the international law.

HEI executive director Sharuna Verghis said most of the refugees were left with no option to safety but to run to Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Iran or India.

“Our investigations showed that most of them had no choice but to come here and even here, they are not really recognised and that has pushed some of them to take the route of human traffickers," she said.

Sharuna said there are some 403 refugees and 108 asylum seekers from Afghanistan registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) here and many were known to be living in the Klang Valley.

She said the refugees mostly lived in squalors and were deprived of basic necessities.

"Malaysia should be playing a bigger role in this. I applaud our move to show concern over the Israel and Palestinian struggle, but what about things that are happening in our own backyard?"

Sharuna lauded Human Resource Minister Dr S Subramaniam's proposal to allow the 90,000-odd refugees in the country to work.

"It’s a good idea. Why do we need to spend more money when we already have refugees here who are dying for a job to sustain their lives?

“We need local integration for these people," she said.

Increase settlement quotas

The report also addressed other needs of the refugee community.

Among others recommendations listed in the report, entitled 'Between a Rock and A Hard Place', were calls for the Malaysian government and other nations such as Indonesia, Pakistan, Iran and India, to increase its resettlement quotas for Afghan refugees.

It also calls for these countries to recognize and integrate special protection for refugees and asylum seekers within enforcement of border control and anti-trafficking strategies.

Noting that Afghanistan was enduring the world’s most protracted refugee situations, the report acknowledged that the Afghan refugees' situation in Malaysia was a relatively recent phenomenon, which increased dramatically in 2007.

The report based its findings on interviews with 73 Afghan refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia and interviews with UNHCR and other non-profit organisations providing educational services to this population.

The report also highlights the chronic multi-dimensional deprivation and dilemmas experienced by this population.