Over half of 118 deaths in Malaysian immigration camps from Burma

More than 100 foreigners died in the past two years in Malaysia’s immigration detention centers from various diseases and unknown causes, according to documents from the government-funded National Human Rights Commission reviewed by Reuters.

The toll, which has not been previously disclosed, is based on Malaysian immigration department data provided to the commission, which is known by its Malay acronym Suhakam. There were 83 deaths in 2015, and at least 35 in 2016 up to 20 December.

It is unclear whether the death rate is higher than in neighboring countries. Government officials in Indonesia and Thailand told Reuters they do not disclose such numbers. The rate is higher than in major industrialized nations such as the United States, which in the last financial year recorded 10 deaths in its immigration detention system, which has many more detainees than Malaysia’s.

More than half of the 118 dead are from Burma, the source for tens of thousands of refugees coming to Malaysia, including Rohingya Muslims escaping persecution by Burma’s authorities and its majority Buddhist population. The number of Rohingya fatalities in the camps is unknown.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been a harsh critic of the Burmese government and its de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi after a crackdown in October by Burma’s security forces led many Rohingya to flee across its borders amid multiple allegations of mass killings and gang rapes by troops. He has called for foreign intervention to stop the “genocide” in Burma.

Najib’s office did not return calls seeking comment

“The numbers are too many and are shocking and it calls for the overhaul of the system,” said Jerald Joseph, one of eight commissioners at Suhakam, which was established by the Malaysian parliament through an act in 1999 and is due to publicly announce the numbers next week in its annual report on human rights issues in Malaysia.

He described conditions at the centers, some of which he has visited, as “appalling” and said the deaths should be investigated as a criminal matter. The illnesses that led to some of the deaths may have been caused or exacerbated by poor sanitation and food, physical abuse and a lack of medical attention, said Joseph, who was speaking on behalf of the commission.

Brutal conditions

Malaysia’s home ministry, which oversees the immigration department, said it was trying to improve the conditions in the centers but that its budget was constrained.

“I agree there is some overcrowding and the conditions are not ideal. We are always trying to improve the procedures, health conditions and management of these sites. The problem is we hit a budget brick wall,” said deputy home minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed in an interview.

He said there wasn’t enough funding to upgrade facilities, provide adequate healthcare and hire and train enforcement officers. Jazlan blamed overcrowding on the “never ending the flow of people seeking better future in Malaysia.”

The living conditions inside the Malaysian camps are grim — overcrowded, unhygienic and brutal— according to interviews with 13 former detainees, and 12 others who have regularly visited the centers, including people from government agencies and rights groups.

Those who had been detained say they did not get adequate food, water or healthcare, that many inmates developed skin and lung infections, and the sick are usually not isolated, leading to the spread of contagious diseases.

All of the detainees interviewed also allege they were beaten by guards at the camps or witnessed others being beaten. One former Rohingya inmate of the Lenggeng camp in the southwestern state of Negeri Sembilan told Reuters in an interview that he witnessed detainees being beaten and then saw them die when the resulting injuries were not treated. “When we asked for medicines, we were beaten,” he said.

Reuters could not independently verify his account or the similar accusations made by other detainees. They all declined to be identified for fear of reprisals.

Asked about the claims of beatings, Jazlan said he needs more evidence to establish if it was prevalent. “I hope critics won’t rely on detainees’ testimony and come up with proper evidence,” he said.

Detainees from Burma fared worse

Of the 118 people recorded as dying in 2015-16, 63 were from Burma, and people from that country have fared worse than those from elsewhere, the documents from Suhakam and data from the Malaysian government’s Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) show.

During 2016, for example, there were 14,180 Burmese nationals detained and at least 14 of them died, while there were only five fatalities among 34,586 Indonesian inmates. The documents and data don’t explain this discrepancy and Reuters was unable to independently confirm the reason for it.

People from Burma, including Rohingya Muslims, tend to stay in the detention centers longer as they try to persuade the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to issue them with identification cards that allow them to stay in Malaysia temporarily, rights groups and former detainees said. People from other countries are often undocumented migrant workers who are deported home relatively quickly.

Malaysia, which has not signed the UN Refugee Convention, treats refugees as illegal migrants with few rights.

Asked about the deaths of Burmese nationals in Malaysian detention centers, Zaw Htay, who is the spokesman for Burma’s state counselor, Suu Kyi, said that “we haven’t heard about these cases.” He also said that “a lot of Bengali people in Malaysia say they come from Myanmar to get UNHCR cards.”

“Bengali” is a derogatory term used by many in Burma to refer to the Rohingya that suggests they come from Bangladesh, even though many Rohingya have lived in the country for generations.

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Lung infections

The documents reviewed by Reuters give causes of death for 68 detainees. Pneumonia and lung infections led to 19 deaths, at least 10 were the result of various heart-related conditions, and five died from the bacterial disease leptospirosis, which is often spread through the urine of infected animals, including rodents.

Sepsis, or septic shock, a condition usually triggered by other illnesses, claimed 21 victims, including some who were suffering from pneumonia or leptospirosis, various forms of tuberculosis led to three deaths, and one Filipino woman committed suicide.

The 13 detention centers in Malaysia held a total 86,795 detainees for various periods during 2016, according to the EAIC.

Malaysia isn’t the only country in Southeast Asia that has faced criticism for the conditions in its prisons.

In its human rights report for 2016, the US State Department said Indonesian and Thai facilities, including those used to detain immigrants, are overcrowded. It said government figures showed that 548 prisoners died “in custody” in Indonesia between January and June of 2016, and 762 died in “official custody” in Thailand in the year to September 2016. However, there was no breakdown between those who died in ordinary jails and those who died in other forms of incarceration, such as immigration detention facilities.

No cause was given for 50 deaths in Malaysia. They are classified in the documents as “no report” or “pending autopsy” or “undetermined” or “awaiting the report from hospital” or “unascertained.” One center in Kuala Lumpur had 13 deaths in 2016, but no reasons were stated for any of them.

When asked about the lack of reasons given for so many deaths, Jazlan said he will look into it.

The documents do not specify the reasons for the lower death rate in 2016, though a Reuters analysis of them and related data shows that there was a 27 percent drop in the number of people detained at the end of 2016 from a year earlier.

Call to allow Rohingya refugees to work legally

PETALING JAYA: With the number of refugees in Malaysia on the rise, it is high time the government ensures their basic human rights are protected.

A member of parliament and a rights organisation said, instead of bringing in foreign workers, these refugees should be given the jobs.

Klang MP Charles Santiago said the government should help those seeking refuge here with a chance at a normal life while waiting for permanent placements.

He described the government’s current management of the refugees as “poor”, due to the fact that most of them were destitute.

Santiago said how their presence would affect the country depended greatly on the way the situation was handled.

“Now, the cost to support these refugees is borne by the government and the people. But what the government can do is to get the refugees who are already here to work in service centres or in plantations.

“All they need is some basic education and some caring from the companies or the government itself.

“It would be good for the country as doing this is cheaper than bringing in more migrant workers,” he told FMT.

Santiago urged Putrajaya and other Asean governments to intervene in the conflict in Myanmar that had seen its minority Rohingya community “butchered and brutalised”.

Malaysia has the ability to do this as it is a member of both Asean and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Shahidan Kassim, in a Dewan Rakyat written reply Thursday, stated that the number of refugees in Malaysia had been on the increase since 2010.

He said as of September this year, the total number of refugees here was 150,226. Of this number, 143,669 are from Myanmar.

Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organisation Malaysia President Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani, in response to this, said the number would increase if Putrajaya continued its “deafening silence” over the “genocide” in Myanmar, which is also a member of Asean.

“In order to survive, the Rohingya have to flee the country. So if the Malaysian Government refuses to intervene, more will come to seek refuge here,” he said when contacted by FMT.

At the very least, Zafar said, it should look into the wellbeing of the refugees who are here.

Otherwise, they would be left with no choice but to resort to illegal employment and that could cause the government more problems, he added.

“Find a way to help them assimilate with the community. Give them the jobs that Malaysians do not want instead of bringing in more foreign workers.

“Because the refugees are not here by choice. They have nowhere else to go and they can’t stay in their own country,” he said.

Myanmar Refugee Doctor Wins Humanitarian Prize for Clinic in Thailand

London. When Cynthia Maung saw the suffering of fellow refugees who had fled Myanmar's crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising in the late 1980s and sought sanctuary in neighboring Thailand, she knew she had to do something about it.

Maung, a doctor, decided to rally other medical professionals in the refugee camps in northwestern Thailand to help her open a clinic in the border town of Mae Sot.

Starting in 1988 with only four beds, the clinic has developed into a fully-fledged health facility providing inpatient services, surgery and trauma care, dental care, vaccinations and HIV prevention.

It treats more than 75,000 patients a year.

"The number of patients that arrive at the clinic each year is on the rise," said Maung, who received an international award on Wednesday (16/11) in recognition of her humanitarian work.

"We also train health workers and provide outreach services for patients who require access to medical attention closer to their communities," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"But the biggest challenge we face is in dealing with the trauma suffered by the displaced and their concerns about food, health care and job insecurities," Maung said before she was due to receive the AidEx Humanitarian Hero of the Year Award in Brussels.

Maung, from the Karen ethnic group, said she was concerned about a military crackdown in western Myanmar which has forced hundreds of Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh, trying to escape violence that has brought the number of dead confirmed by the army to more than 130.

Some of the Rohingya were gunned down as they tried to cross the Naaf river that separates Myanmar and Bangladesh, while others arriving by boat were pushed away by Bangladeshi border guards and may be stranded at sea, residents said.

The bloodshed is the most serious since hundreds were killed in communal clashes in the western Myanmar state of Rakhine in 2012. It has exposed the lack of oversight of the military by the seven-month-old administration of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

"Fighting along the borders is still going on. That has left thousands of people displaced as a result and there hasn't been much improvement in regions still controlled by the military," Maung said.

"... those especially from ethnic minorities remain very anxious about their future. They want to see if the government in Burma will be all inclusive."

Mae Sot in Thailand is home to thousands of refugees from Myanmar who have fled conflict and violence, as well as tens of thousands of migrant workers, many of whom are in low-skilled, backbreaking jobs.

"As long as there is a need for us to be here and there are refugees and migrant workers that need protection, medical care and support, we will continue to be here and do what we do," Maung said.

Reuters

http://jakartaglobe.id/

Minister: There is an increase in Myanmar refugees

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 — The country received refugee applications from 17 nations through the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), said Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim.

Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim says most of the refugee applicants are from Myanmar, followed by Sri Lanka and Somalia. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

Shahidan,had in his written reply, said most of the applicants were from Myanmar, followed by Sri Lanka and Somalia since 2010.

Malaysia received 84,852 applications from Myanmar in 2010 and the numbers increased to 88,041 in 2011, 100,982 (2012), 131,387 (2013), 140,202 (2014), 143,669 last year and 135,286 this year.

“UNHCR will determine a person’s refugee status if it is within its charter,” he said.

Shahidan was replying to a question by Er Teck Hwa (DAP-Bakri) who had asked for a breakdown of the number of refugee applications that had been approved since 2010.

The Arau MP, however, said the ministry did not have the information of the number of applications accepted or rejected or the details of the applicants as the records were with UNHCR.

Malaysia begins pilot job project for Rohingya refugees

By P Prem Kumar

KUALA LUMPUR

Malaysia’s government will allow some 300 Rohingya refugees in the country to seek employment under a pilot project planned to last over the next three years.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told parliament Monday that the Rohingya refugees -- who fled Myanmar’s troubled western Rakhine State –would be allowed to work in the plantation and manufacturing sectors.

Hamidi, who is also home minister, said the outcome of the pilot project would then determine the government's decision on whether to allow refugees to work.

He described the effort as being part of the government’s humanitarian policy despite Malaysia not being party to the United Nations’ 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol, which the country has been insistent on not signing.

"The government is in the midst of implementing a pilot project to allow 300 Rohingya to work in selected sectors namely plantation and manufacturing sectors, which is expected to take a period of three years,” Hamidi said.

"This is one of the government’s efforts to give preparation to this group before they return to their country or are sent to the resettlement country," he added.

For years, Rohingya -- described by the UN as among the most persecuted minority groups worldwide -- have been fleeing conflict in western Myanmar, with many using Thailand as a transit point to enter Muslim Malaysia and beyond.

In May 2015, thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants were stranded at sea after Thailand launched an anti-trafficking crackdown after discovering the bodies of dozens of migrants near its border with Malaysia.

After initially turning back boatloads of migrants, Indonesia and Malaysia agreed to take Rohingya in for one year, accommodating those deemed to be refugees on the condition that the international community then resettle them.

Hamidi insisted Monday that Malaysia's acceptance of Syrian refugees -- to whom temporary residency and work permits are granted -- should not be compared with the Rohingya, saying Syrian refugees had been offered shelter in the country and were not “illegal immigrants”.

He said the processing of Rohingya and Syrians were two different matters for the government’s consideration, especially in terms of responsibility and the country’s security requirements.

"Thus, to date the government does not have any suggestions or considerations to provide temporary settlement and work permits for the Rohingya [as given to the Syrians],” he said.

"This is because the actual solution needed for them is by resolving the root cause in the country of origin [Myanmar]," he said.

In October last year, Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that Malaysia would open its doors to 3,000 Syrian migrants over a three-year period during a speech at the 70th session of the UN General Assembly.

More than 20 Syrian refugee families have already arrived in Malaysia to-date, all screened through the Advance Passenger Screening System with the cooperation of Interpol and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Malaysia is expected to take in 1,000 Syrian refugees every year from 2016 to 2018, but with proper security surveillance of each individual.

Malaysia currently hosts one of the largest urban refugee populations in the world.

As of 2014, some 146,020 refugees and asylum seekers had been registered with the UNHCR in Malaysia, of which the vast majority -- 135,000 -- are from Myanmar.

The vast majority of them are Chin, Rohingya and other Myanmar Muslims.

UNHCR approves 888,294 applications since 2010 to stay in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 888,294 applications by refugees from various countries to stay in Malaysia were approved by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) from 2010 to September this year.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said refugees from 17 countries were found in Malaysia with those from Myanmar forming the highest number approved at 824,419, according to statistical records of the UNHCR office, here.

He said this was followed by those from Sri Lanka (26,615), Somalia (8,532), Pakistan (7,541), Iraq (6,394) and other countries (14,793).

"The business of determining the status of the refugees' applications is that of the UNHCR in accordance with its charter," he said in his written reply to a question from Er Tech Hwa (DAP-Bakri) at the Dewan Rakyat sitting, Wednesday.

Shahidan, however, said the ministry did not have information on the number of applications that were rejected, the ages of the refugees and the lengths of their stay in this country. -- BERNAMA

Doctors Without Borders Washington Exhibit Explores Refugee Plight

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VOA Thursday 6th October, 2016

'Are those pets or food?' asks Sarah, the tour guide, as she begins to explain just how difficult the choices can be for people fleeing their homes.

The Forced from Home exhibit on the National Mall near the Washington Monument is a seemingly makeshift collection of tents, barricades, and photos of people fleeing their homes. But the display, sponsored by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), has a serious purpose: giving D.C. residents and tourists a small understanding of what it is like to be a refugee.

'Do you have any idea how many people in the world have been forced from home?' Sarah asks her group.

Some 65 million people are currently fleeing conflict and persecution, according to MSF.

Making hard choices

Many of the tour groups are students on organized visits from their schools. But the groups also include friends and supporters of MSF, D.C. residents, and tourists drawn in after visiting the Washington museums.

At the beginning of the journey, visitors assume the identity of a refugee or displaced person. They learn about the events that force people to leave their homes, including conflicts in Burundi, Mexico, Somalia, and, of course, Syria.

'In 2014, the U.N. stopped counting the number of civilians dead [in Syria],' Sarah tells her group. 'They were at 400,000.'

One D.C. resident leaves her stroller at registration and carries her 4-month-old baby through the hour-long tour.

'I thought it would be realistic this way,' she says.

As the 'refugees' move from station to station, they have to make choices: Do they pay for their journey with their remaining medicine, water, food or blankets?

Early in the exhibit, visitors are encouraged to sit in a rubber raft, designed to hold seven people. Sixteen people on the tour fit snugly in the raft, while Sarah explained that the boat would carry as many as 60 people across the Mediterranean Sea.

'Many people who take this journey die of asphyxiation,' she says.

The tour continues, showing markets, mosquito nets, and various types of tents. 'Refugee,' 'asylum seeker' or 'internally displaced' is written on the identity card given to each of the visitors. That identification determines what kind of accommodation each person would get.

Bearing witness

Every tour guide has his or her own story. Sarah first deployed to the Central African Republic before working in Gaza and in France, where she's from. To humanize some of the incomprehensibly large statistics and death tolls, Sarah told a story of some of the challenges she faced, including whether to separate a mother suffering from psychosis from her breastfeeding newborn.

'We need to raise awareness. We need to bear witness,' says Chris Tsarra of MSF. 'We need to bring back the voices from the field and share our experiences.'

By the end of the tour, only one of five items visitors took with them remains in their possession.

'Imagine, all you have to start your new life with is this, this one item,' Sarah says. For some, that's their passport. For others it's a blanket, or some cash.

The exhibit attempts to create a connection between refugees and Americans, who may see little reason to care about the global refugee crisis.

'They can just pretend that it's far away and not that big of a deal,' says Katherine Baer, a visitor on the tour. 'And especially if they don't see anybody responding to it: the politicians, the leaders. They can easily ignore it.'

The exhibit started in New York City, and will travel on to Boston and Philadelphia.

http://www.malaysiasun.com/



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Asean lacks coordination on refugees

Kota Kinabalu: There is lack of coordination among Asean member states as well as lack of political will among leaders to bring about a permanent solution on the problem of refugees.

This is also compounded by marriages and liaisons between locals and refugees.

"There is also the problem of Asean countries which have not ratified the Refugee Convention.

"There are issues of governance in the countries from where refugees flee. UN perspective on Advocacy on Refugees is not working in Asean – it only works with countries providing ODA or Official Development Assistance such as the European Union, United States of America, Japan and Australia.

"There are also problems in the enforcement of refugee rights," said MJ Paluga if the University of Philippines Mindanao with AM Raqragio.

"He said the Asean Human Rights Declaration (AHRD) 2013 and Refugees, Article 2 stipulates: "Every person is entitled to the rights and freedoms set forth herein, without distinction of any kind, such as race, gender, age, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, economic status, birth, disability or other status."

Malaysia does not even accord to some of its citizens that are not of Malay ethnicity, Muslim creed, as many permanent residents holding red ICs, as well as Article 22: the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

There is no freedom of religion for Muslims other than Islam of the Sunni Shafie School in Malaysia or risk being labelled as deviant or unbelievers," he said.

"Under Article 35 on the right to development, even Malaysians in constituencies won by opposition do not get to enjoy public funding for development in some cases.

"What can we learn from ground realities? Institutional and international humanitarian-concern framings regarding the so-called 'refugee problem' should periodically calibrate itself to emerging phenomena from the ground so that our Asean Community response is more inclusive," said Paluga.

In 2015, Malaysia was estimated to have a labour work force of 14 million out of a population of 31 million citizens.

A reason for not adopting the UN Refugees charter was that it would be too expensive to accord them the treatment they deserve by law.

However, Paluga said there is also an Asean Human Rights Declaration (AHRD) 2013 and Malaysia is a member.

He was speaking at a session at the 10th International Malaysian Studies Conference at UMS.

"According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) roundtable on Nov 6, 2015, the Malaysia Trade Union Congress (MTUC) cited the Ministry of Human Resource estimate of undocumented migrants at around two million to the Ministry of Home Affairs estimate of undocumented migrants at around four million.

"The Ministry of Human Resource as of June 2015, estimated that there were 2,245,513 documented foreign workers.

"Unpublished figures from the Enforcement Division of the Immigration Department on the 2011 amnesty exercise registered 1,303,126 undocumented migrants.

"Hence, there are no definite authoritative figures to show the facts. In Sabah, the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report on illegal migrants is still pending for action.

Paluga noted that Myanmar does not want to have any discussion on refugees. The country once told former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir to take all the Muslims if he was so concerned about them.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, as the Asean Chair in 2015, stated that the long term solution would be for Myanmar to resolve the Rohingya crisis domestically," said Dagmar Oberlies in a presentation 'Human Rights Based Approaches – A Critical Review'.

http://www.dailyexpress.com.my

In Malaysia, 128,800 people effectively slaves, survey finds

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 11 — Over 128,000 workers in Malaysia are employed in slave-like conditions and treated like livestock, according to the Global Slavery Index 2016.

The survey ranked Malaysia 50th out of 167 countries measured, with nearly a half per cent of the over 30 million population working in exploitative conditions described as “modern slavery”.

“[Modern] slavery refers to situations of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, abuse of power or deception, with treatment akin to a farm animal.

“For example, their passport might be taken away if they are in a foreign country, they may experience or be threatened with violence or their family might be threatened,” said the Walk Free Foundation that commissioned the report.

In the region, Malaysia was behind Singapore (130th, 9,200 people) in the number of workers considered to be modern day slaves, but ahead of Vietnam (47th, 139,300), the Philippines (19th, 401,000), Thailand (16th, 425,000) and Indonesia (10th, 736,100) The country with the most enslaved workers was India, with over 18 million, followed by China (3.3 million) and Pakistan (2.1 million). Luxembourg has the fewest at 100.

Over 45 million people across the 167 countries were in modern slavery.

Malaysia was also rated “CCC” in terms of government action to modern-day slavery, which is categorised as “limited response” as well as “limited support” for victims. The 10-tier ranking ranges from “AAA”, the best, to D, the worst.

According to the report, the majority of modern-day slaves in Malaysia — as with other richer Asian countries — were women and young girls who migrated work as domestic helpers.

“Inhumane treatment of domestic workers including starvation and sexual abuse was reported in 2015, as well as indicators of forced labour including extortionate recruitment fees, confinement to the place of employment, excessive unpaid overtime, withholding of wages and confiscation of identity documents,” the report said.

The spotlight fell on human smuggling in Malaysia and the surrounding region during a refugee crisis last year, when an estimated 6,000 to 20,000 migrants fleeing ethnic persecution in Myanmar and poverty in Bangladesh were left adrift in the Andaman Sea and the Straits of Malacca.

In what was dubbed a massive humanitarian disaster by the United Nations, the boat people were believed abandoned by their traffickers with little food or water.

Malaysia was previously ranked in the lowest Tier 3 of the US annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, but was upgraded to its current Tier 2 “watch list” despite the discovery of 139 graves and 28 human trafficking camps at Wang Kelian, Perlis, along the Thai border.

Lawmakers in both countries expressed suspicion at the time that Malaysia’s upgrade was to facilitate its participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership; the Tier 3 status would have prevented the US from entering a trade deal with Malaysia.

http://www.themalaymailonline.com

Let refugees work legally — Lee Hwok Aun

The Rio 2016 Olympics is making waves for reasons glorious and notorious, but the carnival of sport has made one unambiguously positive statement with the first ever inclusion of a team of refugees. The athletic participation of nationally displaced peoples, alongside those flag-bearing for their homelands, serves timely notice to Malaysia to consider ways that refugees can participate more broadly in our economy and society. In particular, we should open up channels for refugees to work formally and legally. 

Refugees in Malaysia are officially prohibited from working, but circumstances force them to take up jobs informally, enduring risk and hardship just to earn income and support their families. The system also puts compassionate employers who employ them, or want to hire, in a bind.

Why should we legalise work for refugees? First and foremost, refugees are fellow human beings, worthy of the same dignity and deserving of basic needs. They have fled persecution, oppression, forced displacement, war, and other horrors, suffering unimaginable violations of human rights, equality and dignity. They are among the most vulnerable people in the world; it is incumbent on humanity to show compassion and extend practical assistance. Moreover, if prohibited from working formally and deprived of income, refugees will be driven to informal work, and possibly illegal, undesirable activities. 

Permitting refugees to work also stands to deliver benefits to Malaysia’s economy and society. Refugee workers often take up jobs than locals shun, and in being productively employed they contribute to national income. They also tend to migrate with families and are thus likely to a substantial share of their income in the local economy. Refugees can bring skills and knowledge, add diversity, and with their relatively younger age profile, contribute a demographic dividend – they can continue to be productive for many years and across generations. 

Of course, some concerns arise on the cost side – but the evidence indicates that refugee receiving countries by and large can cope. Will local workers get displaced? Evidence from the OECD countries, which have relatively more experience in extending work access to refugees, shows that such effects are usually modest in amount. Refugees’ usage of public services are also not overly burdensome; the OECD average is 0.19 per cent of GDP. In any case, public expenditures should also not be counted solely as costs. Education and health services help cultivate a more capable and dynamic refugee population. 

There is vast room for improvement in the state of refugees here. Such communities are already in Malaysia, and the majority are working informally because otherwise they cannot feed their families. The total number of refugees registered with the UNHCR is roughly 151,000. Of these, about 124,000 are of working age (16-59 years). Approximately three quarters of refugee households have at least one person working or looking for work – all in informal work arrangements with no legal protection. They are located throughout Peninsular Malaysia, but concentrated in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor (just over 60 per cent of total).

Not surprisingly, a UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) survey of refugees in Malaysia found them in dire states: 64 per cent find their economic conditions have worsened since arriving in Malaysia, 72 per cent believe lack of legal status is an impediment to higher income employment, while 42 per cent of households bear debt burdens. The Rohingyas and people of other Myanmar origin groups, who constitute the vast majority of refugees, are more likely to work in dangerous, strenuous and unhealthy environments. At the same time, they widely declare a willingness to work, including in plantations.

These conditions make for a compelling case that refugees should be provided the means to formal employment, on humanitarian and national interest grounds. Refugees, already residing in Malaysia, present an able and willing workforce that can work more gainfully and productively if granted formal employment permits, and that help alleviate our persisting labour shortage problems.

Most refugees are already working, performing jobs too onerous, elementary and unattractive to Malaysians. Even if more join the workforce, the impact will be minimal. Working refugees constitute less than one percent of total employed persons in Peninsular Malaysia, and if those who are not working enter the labour force, their number touches only 3 per cent of jobs advertised on JobsMalaysia.com, the Ministry of Human Resource’s employment portal. 

In terms of public provisions, the scale is similarly negligible. Malaysia does not incur expenses refugee resettlement or welfare payments. Indeed, the bulk of refugee-related budget is spent on placing them in detention facilities.

The Olympics come and go, the Rio torch will be extinguished, but the plight of refugees burns on.

All in all, there are multiple benefits and minimal costs to formally employing refugees in Malaysia. In line with the policy of hiring migrant workers who are already here and reducing the incidence of undocumented labour, it is only right, proper and opportune to channel more national attention and effort into actionable solutions for refugees.

* Lee Hwok Aun is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Development Studies, University of Malaya.

** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.

http://www.themalaymailonline.com

Policy to address medical issues faced by migrants in Malaysia, says UNHCR rep

KUALA LUMPUR: More than 150,000 refugees in Malaysia will have access to medical security, thanks to a new insurance scheme.

The Refugee Medical Insurance Scheme (Remedi) is fixed at RM164.30 annually per refugee, for hospitalisation and surgical coverage of RM10,000.

UNHCR representative in Malaysia Richard Towle said the collaboration with RHB Insurance Bhd on the scheme was the correct way to deal with the medical issues faced by refugees in Malaysia.

“This model doesn’t rely on the Government or taxpayers. In fact, it relieves Malaysian taxpayers because the cost of medical treatment is covered through the commercial transaction itself,” he told a press conference at RHB Centre yesterday.

Asked how the refugees could afford to pay for the coverage, Towle said while refugees were not allowed to work legally, they often found “3D” (dirty, dangerous and difficult) jobs to sustain themselves.

“We don't encourage people to break the law in this country but the reality is they need to work to survive,” he added.

Families of five or fewer members pay RM206.70 per annum, with an additional RM20 fixed per child if there are more than three children. The scheme covers up to RM12,000 per family.

For an additional RM12.20, refugees can get personal accident coverage of RM23,000.

RHB Insurance managing director Kong Shu Yin said the company is targeting 30,000 policies over the first year.

“We had more than 500 policies signed up during our soft launch about a week ago,” he said.

As of April, there are 154,140 registered refugees from Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Syria, Pakistan and Somalia in the country.

Extend right to work to all

I REFER to the letter “Give jobs to locals instead of refugees” (NST, March 21). I would like to correct some points raised by the writer. ON allowing refugees to work: It is an effort to weed out those who hold fake United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) cards. This mechanism can help because the records of refugees will be tallied with their work permits. 

However, it is more than this. Allowing refugees to work means they will no longer be employed illegally or work in “black market”. Work rights for refugees are a violation of the country’s laws: Section 55 of the Immigration Act 1959/63 gives discretionary power to the home minister to allow a class of people to enter this country and it has been used a few times. IMM 13 permits were issued before to the Moro, Acehnese and Rohingya refugees to allow them to stay and work.

 In fact, the Muslim Chams from Cambodia were accepted and integrated into local society. WHAT about locals who are jobless?: There are many factors that contribute to unemployment among Malaysians. Blaming refugees and migrants of stealing jobs is simplistic and xenophobic. Refugees whom I’ve met said they were willing to take up 3D (dirty, dangerous and demeaning) jobs. 

In fact, refugees are already working in informal sectors. It’s a matter of legalising for better regulation and protection. THIS policy encourages those still in their home countries to redouble their efforts to enter Malaysia illegally: Refugees flee their home countries because of “well-founded fear of persecution”. If people come just solely because they want to work, they are not refugees; they are economic migrants and they are not entitled to rights as refugees. 

Refugees find a safe haven while economic migrants find better opportunities overseas. Malaysians must be prioritised when it comes to filling up vacancies: The main problem is that Malaysians do not want 3D jobs. Why do we need foreign workers when refugees are already here and they have been working all this while? The process of taking in migrant workers costs a lot to both employers and industries. Refugees who are familiar with Malaysian culture can also easily adapt compared to the migrants, who are alien to this country. BY allowing refugees to freely enter our country and issuing cards to those who are not genuine refugees, the United Nations is violating Malaysians’ rights: UNHCR does thorough background checks through refugee status determination. 

Nowadays, the newly arrived refugees from Chin, Myanmar, are no longer considered as having “well-founded fear of persecution” due to the stability in the region. If Malaysia wants to safeguard its internal affairs, the responsibility to handle refugees should not be outsourced to UNHCR, which has limited resources. 

THE government should close the UNHCR office in Kuala Lumpur: As a member of the UN Security Council, protecting refugees in a humane way that fully respects the international laws is needed for world stability. Malaysia was a member of UNHCR from 1993 to 1998 and was also elected as Chair of the 52nd session of the UNHCR in 1995. Closing down the office is contradictory to Malaysia’s foreign policy, which promotes global peace within the international framework and bodies. Government should insist refugees be deported to third countries: This is against the non-refoulement principle under the customary international law which Malaysia is bound to follow. 

For a few years, Malaysia has the highest number of refugees being “resettled” (not deported) to third countries such as the United States, Australia and Canada. However, being resettled to third countries remains a slim option for the refugees due to other more severe refugee conflict in other regions. Malaysia is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention: Malaysia is a signatory to other conventions and declarations that specifically provide protection for refugees, such as Article 11 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Article 22 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 16 of the Asean Declaration of Human Rights, Article 12 of The Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam and Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Existing conventions and declarations that Malaysia ratified already outline legal and moral responsibilities for Malaysia to give protection to the refugees. 

If Malaysia is accommodating, refugee numbers will rise: This is why there should be a clear mandate given to a particular agency to handle refugees. Currently, no ministry is liaising directly with UNHCR, and UNHCR is assumed to take care of the refugees without support. The Home Ministry should work together with UNHCR and the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, and share equal responsibilities in handling refugees. If the other parties are so concerned, they can take in these refugees: During the UN General Assembly in October last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak pledged to bring 3,000 Syrian refugees into Malaysia over the next three years. 

How do you expect them to live here without being able to earn a living? In fact, the existing 1,380 Syrian refugees in Malaysia are unable to work. The right to work should be extended to all refugees, and not discriminated based on nationalities, ethnicity or gender. My request is simple: understand why employment rights mean a lot to the refugees. Everyone should get to know them and listen to their stories and the hardship they face everyday. Aslam Abd Jalil, Master of Public Policy student at International Institute of Public Policy and Management, Universiti Malaya, and a refugee rights advocate

Read More : http://www.nst.com.my

Refugees Fear Forced Return To Myanmar After Historic Election

Sally Kantar Refugees Deeply

SALLY KANTAR

People leave an unofficial crossing in Karen State in Myanmar to enter Tak Province in Thailand, home to a sizeable population from Myanmar and the largest refugee camps.

Amid rumors of repatriation and forced returns, refugee advocates argue that militarization, confiscation of land and decreases in international aid would threaten the security of ethnic-minority refugee groups should they return to their home communities in Myanmar.

When she was just 14 years old, Naw Wahkushee, a member of the ethnic Karen nation, left her village in the east of Myanmar for the safety of a refugee camp in Thailand.

It was 1998, more than 50 years after the start of the first of Myanmar’s many revolutions for ethnic self-determination.



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Wahkushee now works as a human rights advocate for the Karen Women Organisation, a women’s political empowerment group on the Thai-Myanmar border. She is one of hundreds of thousands of people from Myanmar who have been forced to leave the country over the past six decades.

“There are people who have had to run for their life since they were born,” she said. “They want to sleep through the night, to do their farming without the military mortaring their villages.”

The exact number of ethnic groups in Myanmar remains contested. Officially there are more than 100 distinct groups, which comprise more than one-third of Myanmar’s population. These communities have been disproportionately uprooted in one of the world’s longest-running civil wars, which began shortly after independence from Britain in 1948.

After 50 years of military rule, Myanmar transitioned to a quasi-civilian leadership in 2010. Two years later, the government initiated a controversial peace process with the country’s nonstate armed groups, followed by a nationwide ceasefire agreement that was signed in October 2015 by the government and only eight of the country’s more than 20 ethnic armed organizations. Yet fighting has not halted. In areas of northern and eastern Myanmar, government offensives against nonsignatory groups have intensified.

Up to 140,000 refugees, mostly Karen and Karenni ethnic groups, live in Thailand’s nine camps. Millions more — including Burman, Chin, Kachin, Mon, Rakhine, Rohingya, Shan and Ta’ang — are displaced both internally and in neighboring countries that have not signed the 1951 or 1967 conventions on refugee rights.

SOE ZEYA TUN/REUTERS

The exact number of ethnic groups in Myanmar remains contested. Officially there are more than 100 distinct groups, which comprise more than one-third of Myanmar’s population.

Over the past several years, however, there have been growing rumors of potential repatriation and forced returns, particularly in the wake of the historic 2015 general elections that resulted in a landslide win for the National League for Democracy (NLD), the longtime opposition party led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

While many Burmese celebrated the election result, some within refugee communities have expressed fears that the transfer of power to an NLD government will serve as justification for neighboring Southeast Asian host countries forcibly to return refugees to their home communities in Myanmar.



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“There is a lot that has to be fixed before people can go back,” said Myra Dahgaypaw, a Karen refugee and former IDP who is now a policy advisor for the Washington-based U.S. Campaign for Burma. “What if the Thai government and UNHCR say they are ready to send everyone back? We have to keep advocating so they are not sent against their will.”

The UNHCR describes current conditions as “not conducive to voluntary repatriation,” but also spoke with camp residents about potential returns last year. In 2014 Thai authorities said they had reached a repatriation agreement with Myanmar. While no official moves have been made, the pressure on refugees has been palpable since Myanmar’s political reforms started.

Aid workers also point out that assistance to refugees in Thailand, as well as cross-border aid to an estimated 600,000 internally displaced people, is drying up. This has made it even more challenging for local humanitarian groups to support the vulnerable populations.

Governments and donors “say they are not forcing them back and that there is the option of voluntary return, but they are not feeding them,” said one longtime humanitarian worker on the Thai-Myanmar border, who asked to not be named.

For example, according to reports released by Thailand-based refugee support network The Border Consortium, until 2010 adults in the Thai camps were each eligible for 33lb (15kg) of rice per month as part of their rations. A sliding scale exists to protect those most vulnerable from cuts. Funds from abroad have decreased and adults in some camps are now eligible for only 9kg of rice per month. To feed an adult two meals per day requires approximately 15kg of rice per month. Reducing the staple rations means that refugees are forced to skip meals.

Refugee advocates say that a powerful and combustible mix of factors – including domestic politics, growing foreign investment, related land confiscation and increased military presence – complicate the questions of safe passage and repatriation.

SOE ZEYA TUN/REUTERS

Some people within refugee communities have expressed fears that the transfer of power to an NLD government will serve as justification for neighboring Southeast Asian host countries forcibly to return refugees to their home communities in Myanmar.

“The struggle in Burma is not only for democracy. It is for ethnic rights,” said Wahkushee, who feels that an NLD-led government will not necessarily satisfy the ethnic minority groups’ aspirations. “We have to support both struggles, otherwise the same situation will happen again.”

Even with an NLD majority in parliament, the country still operates under the highly restrictive 2008 constitution, which guarantees 25 percent of legislative seats to the military, promises legal immunity to government officers and offers no financial autonomy to the resource-rich ethnic states.

“We might have a chance to amend it little by little,” said Seng Zin, of the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand, which documents continued military abuses against the 100,000 Kachin displaced in northern Myanmar.


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But constitutional changes require more than a 75-percent majority vote in parliament. “If we have a chance to write a new constitution in parliament which gives guarantees to the people, it would be better,” she said.

Dahgaypaw’s skepticism of the NLD-led government is also due to constitutional provisions that give the military control of three critical ministries: Border Affairs, Defense and Home Affairs. She wonders if Suu Kyi and her party will be able to address the needs of the displaced.

“Can [the NLD] go to the IDP locations? To the places without state health and education? Are they going to be able to present ethnic voices in the parliament? I don’t think so,” she said.

Another continued threat to ethnic communities’ rights is the dramatic increase in investments in Myanmar’s wealth of mineral, gas, oil and hydropower resources. Foreign direct investment to Myanmar doubled in 2015, surpassing $8 billion.

Refugees wishing to return to their homeland are concerned by a lack of government and international transparency on these investments. They say they fear potential conflict.

“State governments cannot decide what, where or how big [development] projects take place,” said Shan environmental activist Sai Khur Hseng. “Conflict over resources is even more likely when they are located in areas controlled by different ethnic and religious groups.”

Wahkushee added: “You can expect more refugees, not just because of war, but because of investment.”

Notably, many of the estimated 1–3 million migrant workers from Myanmar living in Thailand are “unrecognized” ethnic Shan refugees who were displaced by land grabs or environmental degradation connected to development projects.

Land confiscation and development have coincided with military expansion, which Dahgaypaw says is “still happening” despite reforms and the government’s promises of peace. Much of Myanmar continues to experience an increased military presence largely due to the race to exploit land and resources.

Wahkushee sees “no evidence” that the Myanmar army will leave the ethnic areas. She points out that newly constructed roads now make it easier to transport troops and heavy artillery to army encampments.

Hinting at the rise of a long-term occupation, she said “if things reverse, this time, you will have nowhere to hide.”

This article originally appeared on Refugees Deeply. For weekly updates and analysis about refugee issues, you can sign up to the Refugees Deeply email list.

www.huffingtonpost.com


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UNHCR believes ‘considerable opportunities’ for refugees to return home

KUALA LUMPUR: In light of political developments in Myanmar, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) believes there will be “considerable opportunities” for many of the refugees from there to return home.

UNHCR Malaysia representative Richard Towle (pic)however said that this would not apply to the Rohingya refugees who have a much greater challenge in proving their legal relationship with Myanmar.

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He, however, believed that the non-Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are coming towards the end of a cycle for their need for refugee protection.

“At the moment it’s a bit early to say what impact the changes in Myanmar would have on refugee movements, but what we can say already is that the direction Myanmar is moving in is broadly positive for a large number of people who are living here in Malaysia.

“Our assessment is that in the coming few years there will be considerable opportunities for people to go home,” Towle told The Star Online in an interview. 

Myanmar’s lawmakers last week elected Htin Kyaw, a close aide and longtime friend of Aung San Suu Kyi, to become the country’s first civilian president in decades in a historic moment for the formerly junta-run nation.

As of February there are 144,380 refugees from Myanmar, comprising some 53,700 Rohingyas, 44,870 Chins, 12,220 Myanmar Muslims, 7,150 Rakhines, Arakanese and other ethnicities.

Towle said the baseline measuring point is whether the refugees would face persecution if they went back.

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“People can’t stay as refugees forever. It’s not fair on the host state and it’s not what people want anyway,” said Towle saying that Vietnamese refugees for example returned home in 1995 after conditions improved.

He added that they were discussing with the governments of Malaysia, Myanmar and these ethnic groups on their future pathways.

He, however, said the return of the refugees will not “happen overnight” and that it is important to have a strategic action plan for the management of these groups.

“What we are trying to do at the moment is encourage the government of Malaysia to provide a transitional period for these groups to work lawfully here in Malaysia.

“If they are registered here in Malaysia lawfully and can work lawfully for a temporary period, this will give all sides the breathing room to negotiate a more durable solution including returns,” he said adding this was a natural development.

http://www.thestar.com.my

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Malaysia, UNHCR to form joint task force over fake refugee cards

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Malaysia and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have agreed to immediately set up a joint task force to overcome the problem of fake UNHCR cards issued by unscrupulous syndicates.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said among the immediate measures to be taken by the task force was asking all UNHCR card holders to re-register themselves with the body.

He said the agreement was reached at a meeting with UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner Volker Turk in Bali yesterday.

“We agreed to add more security features to the existing UNHCR card and that re-registration of genuine card holders should be done,” he told reporters after attending the official opening of the Bali Process in Bali today.

The Malaysian authorities have found that syndicates have been issuing fake UNHCR cards, one of the factors for the influx of foreign immigrants including those not recognised as refugees, into Malaysia.

Up to August 2015, there were 153,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia and the majority of them, at 93 percent, were from Myanmar and the rest from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Palestine, among the countries.

The fake UNCHR card-issuing syndicates were detected since a few years ago when the authorities arrested several foreign immigrants who were carrying the UNHCR card but during investigation, the cards were found to be fake and they admitted to having entered Malaysia illegally.

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Cooperation on accepting Syrian migrants

Ahmad Zahid said Malaysia and the UNHCR also agreed to cooperate in accepting the arrival of Syrian migrants to the country as was announced by the prime minister at the 70th United Nations General Assembly in New York in October, last year.

“I will also be chairing a high-level committee meeting on these Syrian migrants soon,” he said.

When delivering the nation’s statement in conjunction with the Bali Process, Ahmad Zahid, who is also Home Minister, said Malaysia urged human traffickers to be taken to court, and to see whether the legal provisions of the countries concerned could be enforced together.

He said all member states of the Bali Process wanted practical solutions to the real causes of human trafficking and smuggling of migrants as the crime was increasingly worrying.

“The criminals have managed to dupe various groups, especially women and children, and they carry out this activity as a lucrative business.

“So, concerted efforts are needed to prevent these criminals from bribing enforcement officers in order to conduct their illegal activity.”

Ahmad Zahid said the meeting in Bali also wanted an integrated approach to ensure that the source countries be responsible for their citizens’ action of entering other countries illegally.

“I am confident the willingness of all countries to share their information and experience to combat human trafficking and smuggling could result in the creation of a data base for a concerted strategy,” he said.

The deputy prime minister said a long-term approach was necessary to eradicate this criminal activity as it could create various other problems, including threatening a country’s security and public order.

The one-day Sixth Ministerial Conference of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime (Bali Process) was jointly chaired by Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and his Australian counterpart Julia Bishop.

It was participated by 48 member states and representatives of the UNHCR, International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), among others, as well as observers.

The conference is a major platform in tackling the issue in the Asia-Pacific region.

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Agreement to impose tighter border controls

Ahmad Zahid said the source countries attending the conference agreed to impose tighter control at their respective border areas, to prevent the human trafficking and smuggling problem from being shouldered by other countries.

“We admit it’s not easy to curb this, especially stopping people who want to migrate to earn a living in another country, as the human trafficking victims don’t regard themselves as victims but economic opportunity seekers.”

He said as an additional measure to prevent illegals from sneaking into the country, the government would tighten security control by erecting or rebuilding fences along the border in the peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak.

Besides that, he said, the authorities would be using drones and satellite for surveillance in the areas involved.

“We know that many rat trails (through which illegals enter the country) have become elephant trails and the border fences have been damaged, but we are taking action on this,” he added.

- Bernama

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