BY HAL HILL
The current, strident refugee debate in Australia is risking our long-established friendships in South-East Asia, at the very time that there is a perception in that region that we are anyway looking over it, north to China and north-west to India.
In particular, the assertions concerning the ''barbaric'' treatment of refugees in Malaysia are needlessly offensive, wide of the mark, and show a glaring lack of understanding of that country.
Malaysia is one of the great Asian development success stories. In its 54 years of independence, it has transformed itself from poor, agrarian and insecure to a prosperous nation intent on graduating to the ranks of the advanced countries within a decade or so. It also has one of the most porous international borders and most open labour markets in the world. Currently about one-quarter of its workforce consists of foreign or guest workers. Of these estimated three million people, about one-third are either unofficial and/or illegal.
In regional eyes, Australia currently looks particularly mean and ungenerous: our per capita income is more than four times that of Malaysia, and we are in convulsions over less than 10,000 refugee boat arrivals, compared to the million or so that Malaysia reluctantly hosts.
It is a measure of Malaysia's development success that so many people from poorer regional countries - three-quarters of its foreign workers are from Indonesia - seek employment there. The country is making a major contribution to the welfare of its neighbourhood through its open border policies. Sure there are human rights abuses. But the country doesn't need to be lectured by a much richer country absorbing far fewer refugees. Providing even minimal food and basic services for such large numbers of arrivals is a colossal challenge. Malaysia's local NGO activists are actively highlighting human rights issues, in a context where they have less democratic space than their Australian counterparts.
In particular, the assertions concerning the ''barbaric'' treatment of refugees in Malaysia are needlessly offensive, wide of the mark, and show a glaring lack of understanding of that country.
Malaysia is one of the great Asian development success stories. In its 54 years of independence, it has transformed itself from poor, agrarian and insecure to a prosperous nation intent on graduating to the ranks of the advanced countries within a decade or so. It also has one of the most porous international borders and most open labour markets in the world. Currently about one-quarter of its workforce consists of foreign or guest workers. Of these estimated three million people, about one-third are either unofficial and/or illegal.
In regional eyes, Australia currently looks particularly mean and ungenerous: our per capita income is more than four times that of Malaysia, and we are in convulsions over less than 10,000 refugee boat arrivals, compared to the million or so that Malaysia reluctantly hosts.
It is a measure of Malaysia's development success that so many people from poorer regional countries - three-quarters of its foreign workers are from Indonesia - seek employment there. The country is making a major contribution to the welfare of its neighbourhood through its open border policies. Sure there are human rights abuses. But the country doesn't need to be lectured by a much richer country absorbing far fewer refugees. Providing even minimal food and basic services for such large numbers of arrivals is a colossal challenge. Malaysia's local NGO activists are actively highlighting human rights issues, in a context where they have less democratic space than their Australian counterparts.
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