Tuesday, April 10, 2012

UNHCR to Record Chin Asylum Seekers ahead of Major Crackdown in Malaysia

UNHCR
(Photo Source: Wikipedia)
08 April 2012: The UNHCR is to collect a name list of asylum seekers from Burma stranded in Malaysia starting tomorrow ahead of a major crackdown expected to take place on 10 April 2012.

The new move to record details of Chin asylum seekers across Malaysia is aimed at protecting them in the event of possible arrest and detention by Malayisan authorities when they clamp down on undocumented workers in the country.

A newsletter by the Chin Refugee Committee (CRC) said the UNHCR will start recording details of Chin asylum seekers, not those who have been registered as refugees, adding: "This is not a registration to get a UNHCR card. We should not confuse it with getting registered as a refugee by the UNHCR."

The programme called 'Bio-Data Collecting Exercise' will be conducted in partnership and collaboration with members of COBEM (Coalition Of Burma Ethnics, Malaysia) under the UNHCR's supervision from 10 April till 31 May 2012.

Making an announcement in the newsletter, the Falam Refugee Organization (FRO) said the registration would be first done through ACR (Alliance of Chin Refugee) though it would also assist as one of the ACR's members in the name-recording process.

"Filling up the registration form will cost 100 Ringgits and a family with children under 18 years of age will need to fill up only one form. But those over 18 will have to get their own form separately," added the announcement.

CRC, a COBEM member, also informed the Chin asylum seekers of the need to give their names and details to its community-based delegates, adding: "We will not accept any individual names given directly to us as we have our delegates across the Chin communities in Malaysia."

Formed in 2007 to response to the needs of the ethnic refugees and migrant communities from Burma living in Malaysia, COBEM is comprised of seven members including Kachin refugee committee (KRC), Organization of Karenni Development (OKD), Malaysia Karen Organization (MKO), Chin refugee committee (CRC) together with Alliance for Chin refugees(ACR), Mon refugee Organization (MRO), Arakan Refugee Relief Committee (ARRC), and Shan refugee Organization (SRO).

There are about 86,000 refugees coming from Burma out of an estimated total of 95,000 in Malaysia, of which over 45,000 are of Chin ethnicity.

Reporting by Thawng Zel Thang

2 comments:

  1. are the UNHCR card holders allowed to work in Malaysia..say agriculture sector?

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