In a new, criticized program between Australia and Malaysia to swap asylum seekers with refugees, some refugees in Malaysia see a chance for a better life.
Below is an article published by Radio Australia:
ZOE DANIEL, REPORTER: It's a typical Sunday morning in this tiny flat in Kuala Lumpur; its 23 inhabitants are getting ready for church. They're all from Burma, part of the Chin minority, and they've fled persecution and forced labour at home. Like all refugees here, they have no rights to work, education or health care, and they're desperate to leave what's effectively a transit stop that can last years.
THANG LIAN KHUP, CHIN REFUGEE (voiceover translation): Here in Malaysia, we can't have stable jobs all the time, so it's very hard to work here.
ZOE DANIEL: Life here is a type of limbo. Malaysia doesn't accept any permanent refugees, so they can't stay. But they have nowhere else to go, until they're offered a place in a third country. As the largest group, the Chin will benefit from the refugee swap.
PATRICK SANG BAWI HNIN, CHIN REFUGEE SPOKESMAN (voiceover translation): When I heard this news, this is for us, for refugees, (inaudible) Malaysia is big news, very good news. We accept, we welcome the news very much.
ZOE DANIEL: Refugee and spokesman Patrick Sang Bawi Hnin also believes the deal will benefit those who don't make the list.
PATRICK SANG BAWI HNIN (voiceover translation): Because of this sort of deals, all eyes will be on this government of how 800 peoples are treated. So, as a consequence, we hope that the rest of their future's already standing here will have - will profit from that.
ZOE DANIEL: Once they're registered as refugees and put on a waiting list by the UNHCR, they're supposed to be immune, but they're still frequently targeted, and if they can't pay bribes, they pay in other ways.
These two young men tell us how Immigration police raided the flat where they were saying last year. Both received three strokes of the cane for being falsely branded illegal immigrants when they're in fact confirmed refugees who've fled persecution.
REFUGEE (voiceover translation): When I was stroked the second time I felt very dizzy, and then the third time I was losing consciousness, the pain was so bad.
ZOE DANIEL: But Chin refugees have something very specific to pray for: a new life in Australia.
Historically, the Chin haven't turned to people smugglers to escape conditions in Malaysia, but others who tend to wait longer for resettlement have. Now working to save money for another attempt, these recently-arrived Iraqis were promised just two weeks in detention and an Australian passport by a people smuggler who escorted them from Yemen.
So how did you arrange to take a boat? How hard is that?
Our translator, Khalid al-Tamimi, is a refugee himself. He runs this hair salon funded by an Iraqi benefactor and took the two newcomers in when their plans to take the boat to Australia fell through a month ago.
KHALID AL-TAMIMI, TRANSLATOR: He says, "If I have money now, I will try again."
ZOE DANIEL: They handed over their life savings, $5,000 each, but the broker took off with the cash, leaving them destitute.
Khalid claims only three Iraqi families have been resettled out of Malaysia during his time here. That's why people are desperately hoping extra legal places in Australia will now lead to their resettlement.
But the new refugee agreement by Australia and Malaysia is supposed to act as a deterrent to people smuggling, according to Immigration Minister Chris Bowen.
CHRIS BOWEN, IMMIGRATION MINISTER: I'm very glad that Australia is able to take 4,000 more refugees under this process. This is a win for Malaysia, a win for Australia and a loss for the people smugglers.
ZOE DANIEL: People who are sent to Malaysia under the deal will initially be placed in a detention centre, partly funded and monitored by Australia. The asylum seekers will then be issued with ID cards and will be released with the right to work. But refugee advocates here say that creates a two-tiered system and is unfair to long-term refugees.
ANDIKA WAHAB, REFUGEE ADVOCATE: All the refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia, they need to work, they need to have access to education, they need to have good hospitalisation in Malaysia. So, it shouldn't be any specific to be given them. So, the whole community needs this.
ZOE DANIEL: There are almost 100,000 refugees in Malaysia. It's arguably the largest refugee transit point in the world, and in reality, there is no queue. They make up only a small percentage of the refugees here, but those from Afghanistan are among those who've been waiting the longest, yet they rarely get offered resettlement.
Rajab is the elder statesman of the group.
RAJAB, AFGHAN REFUGEE (voiceover translation): I have a question myself to ask: that I've been living the life of the refugee for the past 34 years. I got married as a refugee, I've had children as refugees and I have had eight grandchildren as refugees. How long should I be a refugee more?
ZOE DANIEL: In the five years that Rajab's been waiting in Malaysia, he says only five Afghan families who've fled war have been resettled through official channels. About 20 to 30 families from this community have taken boats to Australia and he says most have been given refugee status. But some died when their boat crashed onto the rocks on Christmas Island in December. Rajab's wife Serena can barely speak when she tries to explain to me why they took the boat.
ZARINA, AFGHAN REFUGEE (voiceover translation): Our main concern is our children. We think a lot of our kids. We have been in this country for the past five years, but if our kids were five, they are now 10. If they were 10, they are now 15. So every day of their life is passing by without any proper education and any future.
ZOE DANIEL: After wasting their lives as refugees, these women now see the same happening to their children.
SAJEDAH, AFGHAN REFUGEE: I want to change everything that I have, no problem. (Growing tearful). I have many problems. I don't want problems in my life, but I have many problems in Iran and here too.
ZOE DANIEL: 12-year-old Sajedah doesn't care where she goes, as long as it's away from here.
SAJEDAH: I just need a country that need refugees and help us. Our (inaudible) with us.
ZOE DANIEL: About a third of those in detention in Australia are Afghans and most came by boat. The big fear in this group is that from now on, Afghan asylum seekers will be sent to Malaysia and offered the reward of better conditions here as well as increasing the number vying for the rare offers of resettlement. And far from solving the problem, with this level of desperation, that may push more back to the boats.
THANG LIAN KHUP, CHIN REFUGEE (voiceover translation): Here in Malaysia, we can't have stable jobs all the time, so it's very hard to work here.
ZOE DANIEL: Life here is a type of limbo. Malaysia doesn't accept any permanent refugees, so they can't stay. But they have nowhere else to go, until they're offered a place in a third country. As the largest group, the Chin will benefit from the refugee swap.
PATRICK SANG BAWI HNIN, CHIN REFUGEE SPOKESMAN (voiceover translation): When I heard this news, this is for us, for refugees, (inaudible) Malaysia is big news, very good news. We accept, we welcome the news very much.
ZOE DANIEL: Refugee and spokesman Patrick Sang Bawi Hnin also believes the deal will benefit those who don't make the list.
PATRICK SANG BAWI HNIN (voiceover translation): Because of this sort of deals, all eyes will be on this government of how 800 peoples are treated. So, as a consequence, we hope that the rest of their future's already standing here will have - will profit from that.
ZOE DANIEL: Once they're registered as refugees and put on a waiting list by the UNHCR, they're supposed to be immune, but they're still frequently targeted, and if they can't pay bribes, they pay in other ways.
These two young men tell us how Immigration police raided the flat where they were saying last year. Both received three strokes of the cane for being falsely branded illegal immigrants when they're in fact confirmed refugees who've fled persecution.
REFUGEE (voiceover translation): When I was stroked the second time I felt very dizzy, and then the third time I was losing consciousness, the pain was so bad.
ZOE DANIEL: But Chin refugees have something very specific to pray for: a new life in Australia.
Historically, the Chin haven't turned to people smugglers to escape conditions in Malaysia, but others who tend to wait longer for resettlement have. Now working to save money for another attempt, these recently-arrived Iraqis were promised just two weeks in detention and an Australian passport by a people smuggler who escorted them from Yemen.
So how did you arrange to take a boat? How hard is that?
Our translator, Khalid al-Tamimi, is a refugee himself. He runs this hair salon funded by an Iraqi benefactor and took the two newcomers in when their plans to take the boat to Australia fell through a month ago.
KHALID AL-TAMIMI, TRANSLATOR: He says, "If I have money now, I will try again."
ZOE DANIEL: They handed over their life savings, $5,000 each, but the broker took off with the cash, leaving them destitute.
Khalid claims only three Iraqi families have been resettled out of Malaysia during his time here. That's why people are desperately hoping extra legal places in Australia will now lead to their resettlement.
But the new refugee agreement by Australia and Malaysia is supposed to act as a deterrent to people smuggling, according to Immigration Minister Chris Bowen.
CHRIS BOWEN, IMMIGRATION MINISTER: I'm very glad that Australia is able to take 4,000 more refugees under this process. This is a win for Malaysia, a win for Australia and a loss for the people smugglers.
ZOE DANIEL: People who are sent to Malaysia under the deal will initially be placed in a detention centre, partly funded and monitored by Australia. The asylum seekers will then be issued with ID cards and will be released with the right to work. But refugee advocates here say that creates a two-tiered system and is unfair to long-term refugees.
ANDIKA WAHAB, REFUGEE ADVOCATE: All the refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia, they need to work, they need to have access to education, they need to have good hospitalisation in Malaysia. So, it shouldn't be any specific to be given them. So, the whole community needs this.
ZOE DANIEL: There are almost 100,000 refugees in Malaysia. It's arguably the largest refugee transit point in the world, and in reality, there is no queue. They make up only a small percentage of the refugees here, but those from Afghanistan are among those who've been waiting the longest, yet they rarely get offered resettlement.
Rajab is the elder statesman of the group.
RAJAB, AFGHAN REFUGEE (voiceover translation): I have a question myself to ask: that I've been living the life of the refugee for the past 34 years. I got married as a refugee, I've had children as refugees and I have had eight grandchildren as refugees. How long should I be a refugee more?
ZOE DANIEL: In the five years that Rajab's been waiting in Malaysia, he says only five Afghan families who've fled war have been resettled through official channels. About 20 to 30 families from this community have taken boats to Australia and he says most have been given refugee status. But some died when their boat crashed onto the rocks on Christmas Island in December. Rajab's wife Serena can barely speak when she tries to explain to me why they took the boat.
ZARINA, AFGHAN REFUGEE (voiceover translation): Our main concern is our children. We think a lot of our kids. We have been in this country for the past five years, but if our kids were five, they are now 10. If they were 10, they are now 15. So every day of their life is passing by without any proper education and any future.
ZOE DANIEL: After wasting their lives as refugees, these women now see the same happening to their children.
SAJEDAH, AFGHAN REFUGEE: I want to change everything that I have, no problem. (Growing tearful). I have many problems. I don't want problems in my life, but I have many problems in Iran and here too.
ZOE DANIEL: 12-year-old Sajedah doesn't care where she goes, as long as it's away from here.
SAJEDAH: I just need a country that need refugees and help us. Our (inaudible) with us.
ZOE DANIEL: About a third of those in detention in Australia are Afghans and most came by boat. The big fear in this group is that from now on, Afghan asylum seekers will be sent to Malaysia and offered the reward of better conditions here as well as increasing the number vying for the rare offers of resettlement. And far from solving the problem, with this level of desperation, that may push more back to the boats.
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