Working Together To Support Refugees Workshop

Written by Nisha Kumaravel, Lily Jamaludin

Refugee WorkshopWorking Together To Support Refugees Malaysian Social Research Institute (MSRI) D’Villa Residence, Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur INTRODUCTION The Malaysian Social Research Institute (MSRI) organised a workshop on the 9th of June 2011 that was held in Jalan Ampang with the purpose of discussing and developing solutions to the dilemma faced by refugees universally, and specifically in Malaysia. This workshop was divided into 4 sessions, and each session was divided into sub-sessions to address various issues such as -  perceptions of refugees, health concerns, funding, networking, education, and legal matters that affects both refugees as well as asylum countries. MSRI, a nongovernmental/profit organization, was established in 1959 with the intention of promoting an understanding and appreciation of Muslim and other communities in various parts of the world in pursuance of humanitarian rights and to conscientise the public and mobilize support for people struggling for self determination and/or suffer from war or other forms of dispossession and displacement. In addition to their ongoing programmes, MSRI organises events, workshops and talks to address various social issues, and the Working Together to Support Refugees workshop is an example of their attempt to raise public awareness, and to promote a more balanced and just social system. A refugee is defined as a person who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail him/herself of the protection of that country (the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees adopted in 1951). Although there have been many attempts to clarify and stress the helplessness of refugees, they are still regarded as a burden and a threat, and in Malaysia, refugees are often confused with migrants and are treated in an inhumane way, thus they are subjected to detention, persecution and deportation. This is mostly due to the lack of public education on the roles of asylum countries and individual responsibility to preserve human rights and protect refugees and this issue stems from the fact that Malaysia is not signatory of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. This was discussed in the first part of the Working Together to Help Refugees workshop, as unwillingness to rectify this issue has resulted in the stagnation of attempts to improve the quality of life of refugees. The lack of education, healthcare, employment, proper working conditions, and legal coverage has resulted in the decline of independence of these refugees as they are forced to rely on each other to ensure their stability – financially, emotionally, mentally, socially, for education, and security in asylum countries, specifically in Malaysia. UNHCR PRESENTATION Mr. Alan Vernon, the UNHCR representative in Malaysia talked about the roles and responsibilities of the UNHCR to fulfill the needs of refugees. As the Malaysian government does not recognize the dichotomy between refugees and migrants, no provisions are made to be more involved in efforts to protect and provide for refugees, and thus, the UNHCR assumes this responsibility. According to Mr. Vernon, it is vital to determine the underlying cause that is forcing these refugees to flee their country of origin as the circumstances might have changed since they left and thus, this determines whether or not they are able to return. UNHCR has always worked in partnership with various other organisations, governments, individuals, and institutions to exchange and share experiences, services, and skills, as well as to achieve the goal of “converting” more countries to adhere to ideal resettlement policies. The UNHCR in Malaysia focuses on several main areas of work, namely – registration of refugees, communication (lack of information and the language barrier leads to friction between refugees and the local people), inter-governmental organisations (standardising the policies of asylum countries), sharing of public information, media monitoring (portrayal of the refugee issue in local media), healthcare (mental and physical wellbeing), leadership training, education and vocational training, livelihood support, resettlement processes, legal support (rights, arrest and prosecution of refugees), and to promote solutions to refugee-related issues, all of which are done in stages as the whole process is tightly bound by bureaucracy and the volume of refugees is overwhelming. RESEARCH Next, individuals from different organisations presented findings of research conducted on issues related to refugees. 1. Mrs. Sumayya Firdaus, MSRI -- Palestinian Refugees Firdaus outlined the outreach program conducted by MSRI with Palestinian refugees. MSRI conducts outreach with about 60 refugee families. Of these, 67% are actually single men. They may have been married or have families, but have since been forced to leave them. Firdaus highlighted the plight of the Palestinian families in Malaysia. Among their difficulties she highlighted their lack of social networks, inability to find legally paid employment, poor working conditions, a lack of legal working rights, and no access to health care. Firdaus also mentioned that women face an extra burden of having to take care of the family. Firdaus stated that they found themselves faced with displacement and persecution multiple times, and were forced to come to Malaysia. Notably, Firdaus contended that the Palestinian refugees did not think of Malaysia as their final destination - rather, it was a stop “on the way to exile.” Their main desire was for their temporary stay to be bearable. 2. Mr. Andika Wahab, SUARAM Wahab proclaimed that while 142 states have ratified the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, Malaysia has yet to do so. Wahab pointed out USCRI (US Committee for Refugees and Field Immigrants) criticized Malaysia for being one of the world’s worst places for refugees because of its disregard for the protection of the rights of displaced individuals. Wahab highlighted various arguments for the ratification of the Convention, including meeting international standards, improving Malaysia’s international reputation, and improving the conditions of refugees in the country. Wahab also stated the needs for Malaysians to understand the situation of the refugees and to not negatively stereotype them. 3. Ms. Davina Isaac, Amnesty International -- Refugees Denied Rights in Malaysia Isaac emphasized the lack of humanity in Malaysia’s policies and actions towards refugees. She stated that refugees may have breached immigration laws but they are not criminals because of their circumstances. Isaac revealed that refugees are often kept behind bars in Malaysia, a violation of their freedom of movement, and that they were kept in overcrowded cells of up to 120 people. Further, they lacked access to food and clean drinking water, not to mention health care, making them prone to serious illness and even death. Further, violent arrests by RELA (Ikatan Relawan Rakyat Malaysia or Volunteers of Malaysian People, a paramilitary civil volunteer corps formed by the Malaysian government) portray an abuse of power by authorities. Isaac, like Wahab, highlighted the Malaysian public’s negative misconception of refugees. She gave several recommendations for Malaysia’s future interactions with refugees such as – the government ID card system for refugees and asylum seekers, ending criminal sanctions against refugees, protecting them against human rights violations, health treatment, ratification of the Convention 4. Ms. Eng Qian Jun and Ms. Assumpta, Health Equity Initiative Jun and Assumpta advocated the right to health for marginalized communities such as refugees. They stated that refugees are prone to  high stress and anxiety, leading to depression, lack of sleep, and other problems. It is important to make the distinction between these health issues and issues of mental disablement. It was pointed out that the population of mentally disabled refugees are no higher than any other population. A question was brought up by the public about whether or not this would affect the refugees’ likelihood for resettlement, but  HEI was unable to answer this question. PERSONAL STORIES In the third session, refugees from various countries shared and discussed problems they have faced in the process of being accepted into resettlement programmes. Refugees from 3 different countries shared their stories – Mrs Iman, a Palestinian Iraqi, Mr Belal Faraj from Palestine, and Mr Zabiullah Ahmadi from Afghanistan. There were several parallel and recurring themes in all of their stories, as all of them have gone through the difficulty of displacement, unfair treatment, violence, corruption, helplessness and desperation, unemployment, and persecution. The process of attaining their refugee status card from the UNHCR takes up to 2 years and this causes them a lot of physical and mental stress as problems of being unemployment, limited funds, fear of persecution and the inability of the UNHCR to handle their case drives them to the point of desperation and this leads to other social problems such as robbery, theft, depression and suicide, violence, poverty and malnourishment. Ahmadi stated that the main reasons refugees leave their country is because of political unrest, human rights violation, corruption, insecurity, warlords, blood feuds, “collateral damage” of war (civilians being killed by invading troops), and civil war. WORKING GROUPS This workshop also included a session whereby participants were divided into four parallel working groups, each given the task of debating on and producing solutions to certain issues, which were: 1. Legal Matters Participants in this group argued that Malaysian authorities such as the police force and the RELA as well as the Malaysian government on the whole should intervene and participate in the issue of refugees in this country. This can be done by assimilating governmental policies with social concerns and producing a collective and wholesome law that is able to preserve the position of the local population while protecting the refugees and fulfilling their needs. Another solution suggested by this group was to strengthen ties between  NGOs and to educate the public to bring these two parties closer to lobby and find common ground rather than just campaigning and not producing any concrete results that will help refugees. This problem is interrelated to the function/role of the media in presenting this issue to the public. It is hoped that by lobbying, organisations, individuals and the media involved in the solution of refugee-related problems will be able to place sufficient pressure on the government to adopt a more active stance in the effort to help refugees. 2. Public Awareness and Coordination of Services In order to shed light on the issues faced by the refugees, public awareness can be raised by engaging the civil society (NGOs and concerned individuals) to find a link between organisations and to work together to achieve similar goals. In order to change perceptions, the public must first be educated on the difference between migrants and refugees as the general misconception is that they are the same and that they pose a threat to the local society both socially and economically. This group also stressed the importance of creating a database for organisations dealing with the refugee issue and to involve everyone (NGOs, the grassroots and actual victims/refugees). through this process of information sharing, individuals and organisations will then be able to share personnel, funds, services, skills and experiences through mediums such as portals, a common database, meet-ups and workshops. 3. Healthcare Members of this working group argued that healthcare is very dependent on and interrelated with the financial issue that’s is faced when dealing with refugees. this is because access to healthcare is very limited for refugees and they either have to produce their own funds or rely on relatives to help them. Free healthcare for refugees is an issue that is almost impossible to solve as the number of refugees (both registered and unregistered) is overwhelming. Despite that, they stated that there should be at least an universal standard for the preservation of health for refugees and this can only be achieved through a coordinated effort. Besides the obvious issue of lack of funds, the language barrier between patients (refugees) and healthcare personnel makes it impossible for both parties to express themselves and to produce a solution to a particular issue/concern they are faced with. 4. Education and Vocational Training. In order to produce a more progressive refugee community, education is vital and this can be achieved by creating a standardised syllabus for schools that accept refugee children. Also, there has to be a minimum quality/standard of education to ensure that refugees are not left out, as there is a serious concern now that they have become late learners dues to the fact that they have had to prioritise and sort out other concerns such as registering their refugee status, obtaining a UNHCR refugee card, stabilising themselves economically, and therefore, education takes a back seat. Education can be used as a method to create a sense of continuity and normalcy for refugees as it will equip them with knowledge and skills to compete in the local job market. The issue of funding and costs too pose a threat to the process of educating refugees as it is an added burden on families, and this will cause them to deem education as being unnecessary when compared to the need to eat, drink, pay rent, and to support themselves. CONCLUSIONS AND FINAL COMMENTS The Working Together to Support Refugees workshop organised by MSRI fulfilled its objectives, which were to discuss dilemmas faced by refugees, produce solutions, and more importantly, to network and create a database linking organisations and individuals related to this issue. It is shocking that Malaysia is deemed one of the world’s worst places for refugees. A lack of common humanity characterizes Malaysia’s policies towards refugees, causing unjust treatment. Malaysia should re-evaluate its position in the context of being an asylum nation, and to adopt and apply humane resettlement programmes to help these refugees. The workshop stressed two key steps that must be taken in the fight for refugee rights. That is, the need for Malaysia to ratify the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and also for the Malaysian public to correct its misconceptions and stereotypes of refugees. Ratifying the convention would be the first step in creating humane policies towards refugees. Public awareness and social consciousness would also be a critical component in the cause for refugee rights.