UN concerned over refugees clampdown

‘Decisions by certain countries can undermine integrity of international refugee protectionist regime’

UNITED NATIONS: Responding to the ongoing clampdown in the US and other countries over the admission of foreign refugees fleeing persecution, death and displacement, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern on Tuesday over decisions taken around the world that can undermine the integrity of the international refugee protectionist regime.

“Refugees fleeing conflict and persecution are finding more and more borders

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closed and increasingly restricted access to the protection they need and are entitled to receive, according to international refugee law,” the UN chief said in a statement.

Guterres, who is returning to New York from a visit to Ethiopia, cited in the statement released by his office before his arrival, the case of the African country which has become the largest refugee hosting nation in Africa, and said that

Ethiopia “for decades has been keeping its borders open to hundreds of thousands of refugees from its neighbours, many times in dramatic security situations”.

While emphasising that countries have the right and the obligation to responsibly manage their borders to avoid infiltration by members of terrorist organisations, Guterres observed that this could not be based on any form of discrimination related to religion, ethnicity or nationality, noting that doing so “is against the fundamental principles and values on which our societies are based”.

Guterres also cautioned that such attempts could “trigger widespread anxiety and anger that may facilitate the propaganda of the very terrorist organisations “we all want to fight against” and that “blind measures, not based on solid intelligence, tend to be ineffective as they risk being

bypassed by what are today sophisticated global terrorist movements”.

During a routine press briefing at the UN headquarters in New York, spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric stated that Guterres was on his way back to New York from the African Union Summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, and he had had the opportunity to express his disagreement with the United States Executive Order on refugees.

Guterres’ statement follows President Donald Trump’s signing last Friday of an Executive Order which, among other things, suspended the US refugee programme for 120 days and also bars entry of refugees from seven – mostly Muslim – countries namely Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan,

Syria and Yemen until further notice.

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Guterres’ remarks are also seen as lending weight to the “deep concern” already expressed by the UN Refugee Agency over the uncertainty facing thousands of refugees in the resettlement process in the United States after the country announced it was suspending refugee programmes last week.

The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement that more than 800 refugees were set to make America their new home this week alone, but were instead blocked from travelling to the US. — Bernama

Malaysia working with UNHCR on more secure refugee cards

Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that the new cards have been issued since June under the collaboration between the Malaysian government and UNHCR. — file picturePUTRAJAYA, Aug 18 ― The Malaysian government is collaborating with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to issue new refugee identification cards with high security features, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today.

Zahid, who is also home minister, announced that the new cards have been issued since June under the collaboration between the Malaysian government and UNHCR.

“The issuance of the card will go through tight screening steps. Therefore, the process of replacing the old UNHCR cards will take a bit of time.

“This move is intended to tackle the problem of the issuance of fake UNHCR cards,” he said in a statement today after chairing a meeting on UNHCR-related issues.

Zahid also said a joint task force will be formed in which the UNHCR and Malaysia will work together to register and issue the new cards, but said the process of determining refugee status remains fully under the organisation based on the UN’s 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol.

The joint task force comprised senior officers from the Home Ministry, the National Security Council, the Foreign Affairs Ministry and UNHCR, he said.

On June 21, UNHCR Malaysia representative Richard Towle launched the new card with better security features to overcome past weaknesses that allowed counterfeiting.

According to a New Straits Times’ report then, Towle had said the new card is backed by better biometric data collection, besides including security features such as 3D holograms and bar codes.

The UNHCR had also launched the UNHCR VERIFY-MY mobile application, which Towle said would enable local enforcement agencies or those doing UNHCR work to scan the “Secure Quick Response” (SQR) code on the new cards to verify their authenticity.

UNHCR’s Senior Protection Officer (Oversight) Michael Wells had said the old version of the card was easier to replicate, while the new card had one of the best technologies globally with a biometric scan of fingers, face and retina.

The NST had earlier this year reported that there are syndicates selling counterfeit UNHCR cards ― that are only meant for verified refugees and asylum seekers ― to illegal immigrants.

http://www.themalaymailonline.com

Cops warn of crime spike as cartels sell fake refugee cards to illegal immigrants

Minister Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said UNHCR has no legal standing to issue refugee cards without the government’s approval and blamed the commission as contributing to the flood of immigrants in Malaysia. — Reuters picKUALA LUMPUR, March 17 — Syndicates running the lucrative trade of selling false United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) cards to illegal immigrants in Malaysia may cause the number of serious crime cases here to rise, local police has warned.



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Federal police Special Branch director Datuk Seri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said the false cards exposes Malaysia to the risk of having human traffickers, criminals and syndicates illegally entering here and subsequently seeking recognition as refugees.

“The syndicates selling the UNHCR card are making a lot of money. The problem has become so rampant that it is almost impossible to go after those who have it in their possession.

“If this continues, we are going to see not only an increase in social problems, but also a spike in serious crimes in this country,” he was quoted saying by local daily New Straits Times (NST).

NST said around 156,000 individuals in Malaysia are registered as refugees and hold the UNHCR-issued card, and that local police believe that the number of fake cards is greater than that of those validly issued.


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Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Noor Rashid Ibrahim said syndicates are “promoting Malaysia as a safe haven to illegals” by promising forged cards to migrants without valid documents.

“We are working on several leads and, in the process, we are also checking with UNHCR to verify whether their personnel are involved with the syndicates,” he said.

NST also said one of its reporters managed to get a false UNHCR card through an agent of a syndicate by providing a RM120 fee and RM30 for taxi fares and a passport photo.

The reporter’s false UNHCR card carries the name of a Rohingya refugee validly registered in the UN body’s Malaysian chapter’s database, with the name shared by several other Rohingyas in their false cards.



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Minister Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, who oversees the National Security Council and the Immigration Department, reportedly said the government had never gave its nod to the issuance of UNHCR cards and the number of cards or the recipients.

“They (illegal immigrants) have been hiding behind these cards. It is as though they are just handing them (the cards) out freely to anyone who claims to need refuge. Right now, these ‘bandits’ (the foreigners) are all over the country,” the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department was quoted saying, claiming that the cards are being traded nationwide for good value.

Shahidan said UNHCR has no legal standing to issue refugee cards without the government’s approval and blamed the commission as contributing to the flood of immigrants in Malaysia.



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Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said many are taking advantage of the false cards and that the authorities are grappling to trace the over two million illegal immigrants in Malaysia.

UNHCR said it shared the government’s concerns and that it is up to Malaysia to probe the problem of false refugee registration cards held by illegal immigrants, adding that it has been regularly updating the cards’ security features and to ensure more efficient verification by the authorities.

“UNHCR conducts the regular monitoring of its cardholders, and monitoring will be done frequently if specific allegations are reported,” the commission’s local spokesman Yante Ismail was quoted saying.

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She said UNHCR has a rigorous process to determine genuine asylum seekers, adding that the cards are issued to any individual who meet the “accepted international definition of needing refugee protection without discrimination on the basis of race, religion and nationality.”

Currently, there are around 156,000 refugees from around 50 countries registered with the UNHCR in Malaysia, with 93 per cent originating from Myanmar, Yante said.

http://www.themalaymailonline.com

France opens first international-standard refugee camp

CALAIS: France opened its first international-standard refugee camp in the teeth of official opposition today while demolition continued at the nearby Calais “Jungle” camp.

Three families of Iraqi Kurds were the first to arrive at the new camp in Grande-Synthe near Dunkirk on the northern French coast, an AFP reporter said.

They came from another site nearby where around 1,000 people have been living in miserable conditions with limited protection from the cold.

The new camp, featuring some 200 heated wooden cabins and proper toilets and showers, has been built by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) with the support of the local town hall, despite opposition from the French government.

The 3.1 million euro migrant accommodation is thought to be the first in France to meet international standards, and MSF said they hoped soon to have 375 cabins, catering for 2,500 people.

“It’s a great day for human solidarity,” said local mayor Damien Careme, who fought a battle with the authorities.

“I’ve overcome a failure of the state,” he said, adding that he could no longer stand the sight of around 75 children living in the original camp.

The move has frustrated the government which has been trying to move refugees away from the northern coast and into centres where their movement is more controlled.

The government’s representative in northern France, Jean-Francois Cordet, said last month: “The government’s policy is not to reconstitute a camp at Grande-Synthe, but to make it go away.”

The authorities began a second week of demolition at the region’s largest refugee camp, nicknamed the “Jungle”, in nearby Calais on Monday.

Thousands of migrants have been living in the Jungle and other smaller camps along the northern coast, desperate to reach Britain where many have family or community ties and see better hopes of gaining employment or education.

Most have turned down offers from the French government to move into heated containers alongside the Jungle, or into accommodation centres elsewhere in France, fearing doing so would end their dreams of reaching Britain.

Unlike these alternatives, the new camp at Grande-Synthe will not restrict the movement of migrants and refugees, MSF said.

In Calais, a group of children tried to offer white roses to the line of riot police holding back migrants and volunteers as workers resumed the dismantling of makeshift shelters in the Calais camp.

Nine Iranians who last week stitched their mouths shut in protest at the demolition, said they were carrying out a hunger strike.

Some two hectares (five acres) of the Jungle were destroyed last week, and authorities said it could take a month or more to demolish the southern half of the camp.

Local authorities say there were between 800 and 1,000 migrants living in the southern half, while aid groups say there were around 3,500.

– AFP

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com

IN THAILAND, WAITING GAME CONTINUES FOR MYANMAR REFUGEES

The political transition has brought far-reaching change to Myanmar, but for tens of thousands of refugees in camps in Thailand life remains in limbo.

By JARED DOWNING | FRONTIER

About 10,000 people came up as missing last year when Thailand and the United Nations counted every refugee left in the nine camps just across the border. They hadn’t been resettled abroad, nor had they turned in their ration cards and been officially repatriated to Myanmar.

They were just gone, slipped through a hole in an old camp fence, found a boat to take them over the shallow Moei River and vanished into the jungles of Kayin State.

Of course, they kept their refugee documents and ration cards, just in case they wanted to slip back and re-join the more than 110,000 “displaced people” in “temporary shelters” as they are called by Thailand, which never signed the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.

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Yet these temporary shelters have been standing since the 1980s, long enough for the first comers to have children and grandchildren in the camps, long enough for countless magazine stories and documentaries, and possibly long enough even to outlast the vicious conflicts that first sent them there.

“The refugee leadership are saying, ‘It's time to go,’ but they're not saying ‘let's go,’” said Iain Hall, senior field coordinator for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, at Mae Sot, Thailand.

A race against time, in which in any year or month Thai authorities will suddenly decide to shut down the camps and send everyone packing ready or not, to a wild, landmine-infested jungle, is how decades of speculation have painted the situation.

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“[Rumours are] sometimes fueled by NGOs or CBOs who hear this and they spread it: ‘Tell all the refugees that the camps are going to be closed because they’re doing the military head count!’ It’s irresponsible,” said Mr Hall.

He insisted that this is false and that Thailand has and does honour the right of displaced people to a safe, dignified and, especially, voluntary return, UN convention or not. He said the hearsay escalated after the Karen National Union signed a ceasefire with the government in 2012, and reached a crescendo after Thailand’s 2014 coup, when the military began a physical headcount of the camp residents.

“We spent a long time doing damage control,” said Mr Hall.

Instead, the decision-makers, he explained, will be the refugees themselves, especially their leaders. Each camp contains its own leadership committee, which in turn is overseen by the Karen Refugee Committee, a semi-political body with ties to the KNU.

The KRC has no authority to order anyone home, but in a culture with deep respect for leadership, a word from the top would invariably set things in motion.

Thus, the question is, what are they waiting for?

Two young children walk through one of the Mae La camp’s winding lanes. (Steve Tickner / Frontier)

Promised land

“If we go back, we won’t have the land,” said KRC chairman Pastor Robert Htwe, who crossed the border in 1975 to minister to displaced Karen Christians.

Land is a problem and a significant amount of is heavily mined. Despite the recent multi-party ceasefire, large tracts in Kayin and Kayah states remain in volatile political limbo as the KNU, Democratic Karen Benevolent Army and Tatmadaw hammer out boundaries. There are decades-old ownership and title disputes to untangle. In some places, untamed bush covers where thriving villages once stood.

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The exiles can re-plant and rebuild, said Pastor Htwe; Myanmar’s hill tribes, if anything, are capable and resilient. But ‘land’ for him and his people is bigger than titles, soil and hidden bombs. ‘Land’ means security, and within the old, tattered camp fences, people can still find some sort of healthcare, they can still send their children to school, and, most importantly, they can know that these things will probably not go away, despite the endemic rumour mill.

They cannot say the same for anywhere across the Moei River.

The signs are encouraging. The KNU and the Myanmar government finally seem to be working together and there’s reason for optimism. But after decades of having promises delivered and then broken, Pastor Htwe and his people have become accustomed to biding their time.

“Many people, they want to go back, but we don’t know our future,” he said.

Even “going back” means different things to different people. The majority want to eventually return home rather than being resettled in a third country, a consensus cited by Pastor Htwe and supported by UNHCR surveys. Some want to return to their own villages. Others want to stay together, to preserve the deep-rooted communities that have formed in the camps. Families have joined and joined again; new clans and even subcultures have emerged. Some talk about simply packing up their huts and rebuilding them on Kayin soil.

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It’s a pipe dream, said Pastor Htwe. He said discussions within and among the KRC, KNU, Myanmar government and other parties all prioritise sending people back to their original villages, if possible. “If we return, we cannot stay together like in the camp.”

Define: refugee

More troubling for Pastor Htwe are those who do not wish to return at all.

“[Now] there are a lot of ethnicities,” he said. “After resettlement in 2005, a lot of people came from Burma for the resettling, not as refugees.”

He is referring to when the Thai government, with UN assistance, began resettling registered camp members en masseto countries such as the United States and Australia. Supposedly to curb opportunistic migration it also limited new camp registrations to special cases, such as people with certain medical conditions or at risk of gender-based violence. It resulted in something of a divide in the camp community between the registered old guard and unregistered newcomers.

Pastor Htwe believes the unregistered population, on the whole, has strengthened the idea that the refugees are only looking for a ticket to the West. “They will tell you, ‘We don’t want to come back.’” This in turn has made it more difficult to retain the interest of outside donors and supporters.

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Daw Moe Moe Win has lived for 10 years in sprawling Mae La camp near Mae Sot. She is Chin, but her husband is Karen. She has fled conflict twice, she said, first from Chin State, and then, after studying English in Yangon, from her husband’s village in Kayin.

They are unregistered, having arrived at the camp a month before registration ended, but Daw Moe Moe Win said she was not there only because of the possibility of being resettled abroad. Even if she was, years of camp life would not be worth it.

“We don’t want to be a refugee. People look down on us,” she said. “I’ve lived in Mae La ten years and I have only been out [in the city] maybe ten times.”

She and her husband want to return to Myanmar, but they wouldn’t say “no” to somewhere else either. “Where is safe? That is the first priority.”

Myanmar is not safe, not in her mind or the minds of her fellow refugees, despite the ceasefire. “When I was growing up, I saw ceasefire. At that time they said ‘ceasefire,’ but they destroyed the Chin land, the Chin people.”

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The war in Kayin was a 70-year conflict, fraught with bullets and torched homes, as well as also broken promises and dashed hopes. The situation is tense in many of the newly-stable conflict zones. The newspapers might say peace while packs of zealous soldiers-turned-bandits seek revenge in the jungle, and old land mines still cripple children. The fear, at least, is enough to keep Daw Moe Moe Win in the camp.

Mr Hall agrees with focusing on repatriation rather than resettlement elsewhere. “Resettlement is a protection solution. We’re not a travel club,” he said.

But he believes most camp residents, including those who are unregistered, do not want to move on to a third country. About half of those left in the nine camps are still registered, yet requests for resettlement abroad have plummeted in recent years.

In other words, there are thousands of people who have been offered a free pass to a third country and said “no.”

“That told us something,” said Mr Hall. “We think the majority would like to go home.”

And the feeling is growing, especially as a new generation emerges in the camps.

“They're youth,” Mr Hall said. “They're 15, 16 and 17, and they're in a refugee camp. And they're in restrictions, they can't leave the camp, and they're going, ‘What is this life I've got? I don't want this life. Whether it's Holland or Myanmar, whether I get to Thailand illegally or whether I get to resettle in the US. I'm just a kid.”

Children reflected in a pond at the Mae La Oon refugee camp. (Vincenzo Floramo / Frontier)

Slow exodus

Ten thousand, at least, have already left.

The missing people were most likely what the UN calls “self-assisted returns,” people who just pack up and leave without alerting the KRC, the UN, Thai security or anyone else.

“They often tend to be the most successful. Why? Because they don’t need the support. Because they made the decision without anyone badgering them,” said Mr Hall.

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He said they usually keep their refugee documents and ration cards “just in case,” and sometimes drift back across the Moei River to visit friends and family in the camp and bring news from home.

This is the exodus we can expect for now: Not floodgates opening, but a trickle of people wandering over to the other side to see how things are, gradually dissolving the barrier between camp and country.

“A lot of them have just had enough.”

http://frontiermyanmar.net

Malaysian police nab 2 Myanmar men in mass graves case

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Police team chief says suspects found during search for 6 other foreigners in relation to human trafficking camps along Thai border

By P Prem Kumar

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian police have detained two Myanmar nationals during a search for six other foreigners wanted in relation to mass graves of human trafficking victims found along the border with Thailand last year.

The chief of a special police team investigating the case told Anadolu Agency Wednesday that the two men, both in their 30s, were found at an immigration detention center as they had been deemed victims of human trafficking.

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They were, however, named by other victims during a suspect identification process last week, Goh Kok Liang said by phone.

“They were kept at the immigration detention center as illegal immigrants, only until they were named as prime suspects involved in the mass graves,” he said.

“They are not the traffickers but should have plenty of knowledge on the actual criminals. I cannot say more because we are yet to record a statement and this is a highly secretive case,” he added.

Police are still searching for the other six suspects, included among whom are Myanmar and Thai nationals.

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“We are getting arrest warrants for the six suspects so that once we locate them, we can remand them,” Liang said.

“They are also involved in a small way in the human trafficking syndicate.”

In May last year, 159 gravesites – some holding more than one body – were found at 28 human trafficking camps in the northern Malaysian towns of Padang Besar and Wang Kelian near the Thai border.

The discovery came after more than 30 corpses were found in jungle camps in southern Thailand.

According to Malaysian authorities, the camps on the Malay side of the Thai border had become a safe haven to temporarily house the migrants – many of them Muslim Rohingya who have been fleeing Myanmar in droves since 2012 – while Thai authorities carried out their operation on the other side.

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The crackdown by Thai authorities on the camps had also scared traffickers into abandoning their human cargo at sea.

Following a tri-nation conference on the crisis May 20, Indonesia and Malaysia announced they would take those they considered to be refugees – predominantly Rohingya – in for one year before the international community finds homes for them, while those classified as economic migrants – predominantly Bangladeshi – would be repatriated.

Since the discovery, Thai police have charged at least 88 people – including a general – with human trafficking while Malaysia detained 47 people – including four police officials – as of November.

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Why jobs, education only for Syrian refugees? Rights groups ask Putrajaya

Sumitra said Malaysia has a humanitarian obligation to protect and to care for refugees. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 7 ― Local human rights groups are questioning Putrajaya's plans for the 3,000 Syrian refugees headed to Malaysia, noting that while this group will get shelter, employment opportunities and even education, over 150,000 others from different nationalities continue to struggle here without legal protection.

Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) executive director Sumitra Visvanathan, who has 16 years of experience with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said Malaysia should offer the same deal to refugees already residing here.

“If Malaysia only accords legal protection to these 3,000, then it would beg the question, why this group and not others?” Sumitra told Malay Mail Online.



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“Why not the Iraqis? Why not the Palestinians? Why not the Rohingyas? Why not the tens of thousands of refugees who have been living in Malaysia in forced displacement, sometimes for decades, struggling to survive without any form of legal protection?

“Can we say that these 3,000 Syrians are more in need of protection than the Palestinians currently residing illegally in Malaysia? We certainly can't. So why then aren't we protecting them all?” she added.

At the recent UN General Assembly, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that Malaysia would accept 3,000 Syrian refugees to help with the migration crisis amid the civil war in Syria that has forced millions to flee to Europe and other countries.

In October, his deputy Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was reported in national news agency Bernama as saying that the federal government would provide temporary shelter and jobs for the Syrians that will enter Malaysia in stages over the next three years.

It was reported that these refugees will also get education opportunities for their children, and remain in Malaysia until they are able to return to their home country when the civil war is over.

The first batch of the 3,000 reportedly arrived in Malaysia last month comprising two families of eight.

Sumitra said Malaysia has a humanitarian obligation to protect and to care for refugees, noting that there are migrants who do dangerous, dirty and dull jobs in Malaysia and are at high risk of facing abusive labour conditions.



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“For as long as we do not accord these individuals any legal status in Malaysia, they will have no access to labour protection under the law.

"The result is that we will never be able to eradicate forced labour and trafficking,” she said.

Dr Sharuna Verghis, director at refugee NGO Health Equity Initiatives, welcomed the government’s move to take in the 3,000 Syrian refugees, but said it posed a conundrum for Malaysia.

Like Sumitra, she noted that Malaysia is already home to some 150,000 refugees, all of whom have been struggling with legal issues.

“What about the 150,000 or more refugees already in the country who lack formal rights to work, education and struggle to access health care? What about other Syrian refugees already in the country?” Sharuna told Malay Mail Online.

“We hope that the move to bring in Syrian refugees will strengthen Malaysia's commitment to share responsibility for the humanitarian crises around us and recognise other refugees in the country,” she added.

Sharuna urged Malaysia to ratify the UN Refugee Convention and to allow refugees to work.

“By allowing them to work, refugees can officially contribute to the development of the country, pay taxes, pay their bills and sustain themselves,” she said.

The Migration Working Group (MWG), which is a network of civil society groups and people who advocate for the rights of refugees and migrants, said Putrajaya’s decision to classify the 3,000 Syrian refugees as migrants seemed to be a “work around” the system, as opposed to a comprehensive policy on the refugee situation in Malaysia.

“An important difference between migrant workers and refugees is that the latter cannot be returned home because their life or liberty is threatened. Until things change in Syria, they need to be protected and given an opportunity to start a new life in Malaysia, and this means giving them the right to work, to have education, and to have health care,” MWG coordinators Jessica Low and Alice Nah told Malay Mail Online.

Asylum Access Malaysia director Deepa Nambiar said the 3,000 Syrians should be considered asylum-seekers and not migrants, pending the determination of their refugee status with UNHCR.



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“The right to seek asylum is a fundamental human right and is recognised in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 16 of the Asean Human Rights Declaration, both of which Malaysia is a member,” Deepa told Malay Mail Online.

According to the UNHCR, there are over 153,000 refugees and asylum-seekers registered with the UN agency in Malaysia as of the end of September 2015.

The majority are from Myanmar, with most comprising the Rohingya, while the rest are from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Palestine, among others.

http://www.themalaymailonline.com

Czech Republic Keen To Continue Humanitarian Aid To Malaysia

By Nur Ashikin Abdul Aziz

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 10 (Bernama) -- The Czech Republic is interested to continue its humanitarian aid to Malaysia following years of successful cooperation with various non-governmental organisations (NGO) in the country.

Its Foreign Minister, Lubomir Zaoralek said he was satisfied with projects that were sponsored by the Czech Republic since 2006, including for the Rohingya refugees in Malaysia.

"I thank them for ensuring the money reached the needy ones. I'm glad to know that the money was used in the right way and I told these NGOs to help and cooperate with us so that we can (continue to) contribute," he told Bernama in an exclusive interview during his two-day visit to Malaysia here recently, .

During the visit, Zaoralek said he met with several NGOs where he expressed interest in continuing to cooperate with them in the fields of health and education.

Between 2013-2014, the Czech Republic contributed 3,000,000 CZK (about RM523,000) for Enhancing Access to Health Education, Health Care and Referral Services for Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Malaysia.

The project was carried out in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Meanwhile in 2010-2012, the republic, through Taiwan Buddhist Tzu-Chi Foundation Malaysia, was involved in providing basic healthcare for refugees and education projects for the Myanmar refugees in Malaysia.

The republic contributed 3,200,000 CZK (about RM558,000) for these two projects.

The Czech Republic pilot humanitarian project in Malaysia, Mobile Healthcare Clinic for Refugees, ran for three years until 2009, in which the country contributed 1,370,000 CZK (about RM238,500).

-- BERNAMA

Japan’s policies helped Myanmar refugees to rebuild their lives

Myo Myint Swe was a 22 year old pro-democracy activist when he decided to leave Myanmar because life was getting too dangerous for people like him. A friend suggested he flee to Japan, while most of his friends went to the US and Canada. Even if the first few years in Tokyo were extremely difficult and challenging, he is now on his way back to his country 22 years later, armed with a graduate degree from the University of Tokyo, a wife and daughter and a desire to build a society that allows people to “think freely and live peacefully.”

His story is just one of hundreds of Burmese refugees who sought asylum in Japan to escape a military regime. People from Myanmar constituted a major part of the country’s administration policies for refugees. The Justice Ministry’s Immigration Bureau showed that 14,299 foreigners applied for refugee status between 1982 and 2012, with the Burmese accounting for 4,583 or 1/3 of them. Between 2003 and 2011, Myanmar was the top-ranked country in terms of applicants. Even in 2012, when their government was already under democratic rule, there were still 368 applicants. Since 1982, a total of 616 foreigners have successfully obtained recognition as refugees and more than half of them are Burmese.

But compared to other industrialized countries in North America and Europe, Japan’s numbers are pretty low. In 2011, the US had 10,000 recognized refugees while Canada had around 6,000. However, Japan is trying to make up for the numbers by helping more of the Burmese refugees with their “third-country resettlement” program, focusing on the minority group Karen, who are being persecuted by the Muslims in Myanmar. Most of the Karen refugees are living in camps in Thailand, but now 45 have already come to Japan and availed of the program. An official from the Japan Association for Refugees said that despite the democratization of Myanmar, it will still be difficult for most of them to return to their country.

Myo Myint Swe, when he has settled back in Myanmar, wants to become a bridge between his home country and his “second homeland”. He wants to harness the power of former refugees to affect change in their country. One of the most important things he learned from his sojourn in Japan is, “Even if the door is closed, you should make utmost efforts where you are living. You should make preparations for the future. That means that you should have hope.”

Burmese refugees find a place in Victoria's parks

Burmese refugees in the Australian state of Victoria are being encouraged to use the state's parks to help them face the challenges of a new and unfamiliar Australian environment.

In Werribee Park, in Melbourne's West, a group of refugees has revitalised the park's kitchen garden, while learning valuable life skills and making new connections with their local community.

Dr Melika Yassin Sheikh-Eldin from Adult Migrant Educational Service says the project is helping Karen refugees address the feelings of isolation and language barriers felt by new refugees.

"Organising programs like this garden helps them get connected to the land and do things they enjoy," she said.

"It helps address isolation by bringing the women together, and also we are planning to help them improve their language, and their communication skills as well."

Nanthu Kunoo and her family are members of the persecuted ethnic Karen minority and were driven out of Burma by the military, amid a long and bloody civil war.

They had spent seventeen years in refugee camps before being resettled - eventually arriving in Australia.

"We'd never seen a big city like this, and our family arrived in September, and at that time it was very, very cold," she said.

"My eldest daughter said 'Dad, this is Australia? Why so cold?'."

When they found this garden, they were very, very happy, and physically and mentally they are joyful, healthful, better for the communities.

Nanthu Kunoo, Burmese Community Liaison Officer

She's now at home working with local Karen refugees who've been volunteering to help revive the park's kitchen garden, helping others make the transition to life in Australia.

"This is a good thing for our communities, especially women over 50 because they are so isolated, and also they just only stay home," she said.

"[With a] lack of language, or a lack of understanding many things, they can't catch up.

"When they found this garden, they were very, very happy and physically and mentally they are joyful, healthful, better for the communities."

Dr Melika says for communities scarred by war and persecution, it's about familiarising them with a new environment, and introducing them to Victoria's wide, open spaces.

"We have done a number of excursions - some of them were planting trees [because] where people can get connected with the environment, they feel they are part of this country," she said.

"We always try to encourage them, they are putting their roots in this beautiful country.

"One day they will tell their children and grandchildren that they are really part of this country."

We always try to encourage them, they are putting their roots in this beautiful country. One day they will tell their children and grandchildren that they are really part of this country.

Dr Melika Yassin Sheikh-Eldin, Adult Migrant Educational Service

The project is a partnership between Parks Victoria and the refugee settlement service, AMES.

Victorian Multicultural Affairs Minister Nick Kotsiras says it is about engaging the community.

"It's about giving people a go so they can have a go," he said.

"It's about lifting people's ability to be able to stand on their own two feet, and that's important."

The benefits flow both ways - with park rangers like James Brincat learning first-hand about the refugee experience.

"The reality is, and I'm hearing this in other communities where they say, 'if you're a refugee you get a free car, and a free house'," he said.

"It's absolutely not the case - if you're a refugee here, you're behind the eight ball.

"You're going to be battling with languages, you're going to be battling with culture."

Australia rescues 123 refugees from capsized vessel

At least 123 people were rescued on Wednesday after a boat carrying asylum seekers capsized some 100 nautical miles north of Australia's Christmas Island. Up to 90 people died last week when another vessel went down in the same area.

By News Wires (text)

 

AFP - Rescuers plucked 123 people from the ocean Wednesday after an asylum-seeker boat sank en route to Australia, barely a week after another vessel went down in the same area, killing up to 90.
The rickety ship capsized 107 nautical miles north of Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean and then sank, an Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokeswoman said.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said between 123 and 133 people were on board, revised down from earlier estimates of 150.
"As we speak my best advice is that 123 people have been rescued," she told parliament as the pressure was turned up on Australian politicians to break their deadlock on how to deal with the arrival of asylum-seekers.
The incident comes just days after another boat with around 200 people on board went down in the Indian Ocean as it made its way to Australia.
Rescuers managed to save 110 people and 17 bodies were recovered from Thursday's capsize, but no other survivors have been found.
Three merchant vessels, including the MV Bison Express, a Philippines-flagged livestock carrier, were on the scene of Wednesday's disaster, which happened in Indonesian waters.
AMSA said two Australian navy ships and a spotter aircraft capable of dropping liferaft were also helping with the rescue effort in conditions described as "fair, not ideal".
In a statement, Australian Customs and Border Protection said police received a satellite phone call early Wednesday from the vessel.
AMSA "initiated an immediate response to the report and continues to coordinate the search and rescue effort".
Details were passed to the Indonesian search and rescue authority Basarnas, which said it received a report that the generator was broken and the boat was taking on water.
A photo from the MV Bison posted on the AMSA website showed a small, basic-looking boat crowded with people on its decks, apparently taken before it capsized.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation said most of the passengers were believed to be Afghans and there were women and children on board, though this could not be confirmed.
The accident is the latest in a series of refugee boat disasters in recent years, as unseaworthy, overloaded vessels packed with desperate migrants struggle to reach Australia.
Most boats originate in Indonesia, but there has been a recent spike in attempts from Sri Lanka.
Though they come in relatively small numbers by global standards, asylum-seekers are a sensitive political issue in Australia, dominating 2010 elections due to a record 6,555 arrivals.
Both sides of Australian politics support offshore processing of asylum-seekers but differ on where it should be conducted.
Canberra clinched a deal last year to send 800 boatpeople to Malaysia in exchange for 4,000 of that country's registered refugees in a bid to deter people-smugglers from the dangerous maritime voyage to Australia.
But Gillard's fragile coalition government was unable to pass the required legislation through parliament without the support of the opposition, amid concerns Malaysia was not a signatory to UN refugee conventions.
Opposition leader Tony Abbott, who supports processing on the Pacific island of Nauru and turning boats back when possible, again ruled out the Malaysian solution Wednesday.
In response, Gillard pushed for a private members bill by independent MP Rob Oakeshott which would allow an immigration minister to designate any nation as an "offshore assessment country" if it was party to the Bali Process.
The Bali Process is a regional cooperative framework for dealing with asylum-seekers involving more than 40 countries.
Gillard offered, as a gesture of compromise, to re-open a detention centre on Nauru while pressing ahead with her Malaysia deal if the opposition agreed to vote for the Oakeshott bill.

Source : http://www.france24.com