PETER CAVE: Malaysian refugees and activist groups have launched a new campaign to get the country to sign the UN Refugee Convention.
Australian Government plans to process asylum seekers in Malaysia have been criticised partly because of Malaysia's failure to sign the convention and its treatment of people seeking refugee status.
Asylum seekers living there have been unable to be legally employed and describe a life of waiting for resettlement while dodging police targeting illegal workers.
South East Asia correspondent Zoe Daniel reports from Kuala Lumpur.
(Sound of people talking and utensils clicking)
ZOE DANIEL: In a tiny flat in central KL 19 people live in six makeshift bedrooms. The heat is stifling as the women make dinner for the group.
They're all asylum seekers from Burma who have left forced labour and intimidation at home. But here they say they face something similar.
Asylum seekers and refugees can't legally work in Malaysia so while their refugee resettlement applications take years to process they dodge immigration police and work illegally.
John says he and his friends hide from frequent raids.
JOHN: If we heard the rumours or, only the rumours or so that immigration is having operation we have to hide as, hid-est place as we can. So wherever we are we are very in a nervous situation.
ZOE DANIEL: Asylum seekers like John who are judged people of concern are given a card by the UN High Commission for Refugees and can then live in the community while their refugee applications are processed.
That's the system that Australia's Government is proposing to divert 800 people into.
But volunteer advocate Patrick Sang Bauii Hnin says unless they pay bribes people are often arrested by immigration police and put in detention centres, sometimes for months at a time.
PATRICK SANG BAUII HNIN: They know that we are afraid of them so they expect to give them some money. So still, you know, even if we have UNHCR card we are not safe yet.
ZOE DANIEL: Lawyer and refugee advocate Renuka Balasubramaniam says she's surprised at the Australian Government's plans considering the well-documented problems with Malaysia's processing system.
RENUKA BALASUBRAMANIAM: The existing problem is likely I think to be exacerbated by the fact that now they're being sent out of Australia into Malaysia and really falling into the same situation of the protracted refugee situation.
They're basically joining the protracted refugee situation here in Malaysia.
ZOE DANIEL: She's part of a collective of refugees and activists who have launched a new campaign calling for Malaysia to sign the UN Refugee Convention even though she knows the government won't.
RENUKA BALASUBRAMANIAM: There doesn't appear to be any evidence that Malaysia might sign onto the refugee convention and protocol.
ZOE DANIEL: Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak says the deal will be good for both countries.
NAJIB RAZAK: I believe this is mutually beneficial. It's a big issue in Australia as you know. It's also useful for us because we will send a strong signal that Malaysia should not be used as a transit point.
ZOE DANIEL: Malaysia's government has defended its human rights record.
In Kuala Lumpur this is Zoe Daniel for AM.
Australian Government plans to process asylum seekers in Malaysia have been criticised partly because of Malaysia's failure to sign the convention and its treatment of people seeking refugee status.
Asylum seekers living there have been unable to be legally employed and describe a life of waiting for resettlement while dodging police targeting illegal workers.
South East Asia correspondent Zoe Daniel reports from Kuala Lumpur.
(Sound of people talking and utensils clicking)
ZOE DANIEL: In a tiny flat in central KL 19 people live in six makeshift bedrooms. The heat is stifling as the women make dinner for the group.
They're all asylum seekers from Burma who have left forced labour and intimidation at home. But here they say they face something similar.
Asylum seekers and refugees can't legally work in Malaysia so while their refugee resettlement applications take years to process they dodge immigration police and work illegally.
John says he and his friends hide from frequent raids.
JOHN: If we heard the rumours or, only the rumours or so that immigration is having operation we have to hide as, hid-est place as we can. So wherever we are we are very in a nervous situation.
ZOE DANIEL: Asylum seekers like John who are judged people of concern are given a card by the UN High Commission for Refugees and can then live in the community while their refugee applications are processed.
That's the system that Australia's Government is proposing to divert 800 people into.
But volunteer advocate Patrick Sang Bauii Hnin says unless they pay bribes people are often arrested by immigration police and put in detention centres, sometimes for months at a time.
PATRICK SANG BAUII HNIN: They know that we are afraid of them so they expect to give them some money. So still, you know, even if we have UNHCR card we are not safe yet.
ZOE DANIEL: Lawyer and refugee advocate Renuka Balasubramaniam says she's surprised at the Australian Government's plans considering the well-documented problems with Malaysia's processing system.
RENUKA BALASUBRAMANIAM: The existing problem is likely I think to be exacerbated by the fact that now they're being sent out of Australia into Malaysia and really falling into the same situation of the protracted refugee situation.
They're basically joining the protracted refugee situation here in Malaysia.
ZOE DANIEL: She's part of a collective of refugees and activists who have launched a new campaign calling for Malaysia to sign the UN Refugee Convention even though she knows the government won't.
RENUKA BALASUBRAMANIAM: There doesn't appear to be any evidence that Malaysia might sign onto the refugee convention and protocol.
ZOE DANIEL: Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak says the deal will be good for both countries.
NAJIB RAZAK: I believe this is mutually beneficial. It's a big issue in Australia as you know. It's also useful for us because we will send a strong signal that Malaysia should not be used as a transit point.
ZOE DANIEL: Malaysia's government has defended its human rights record.
In Kuala Lumpur this is Zoe Daniel for AM.
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