MALAYSIA : UN body open to sharing database

KUALA LUMPUR: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is open to having a database for those whose presence here it had sanctioned, that is accessible to the authorities who have been calling for one to be set up. 

In a statement, the Malaysian chapter of the UN body said it shared Kuala Lumpur’s concern about the use of fake UNHCR cards among asylum seekers. “We are convinced that the best way to manage the issue of criminality is to find a common registration system, where UNHCR and the government can identify the protection needs of refugees.

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 “We believe that a scheme allowing genuine refugees to be registered in Malaysia, including the opportunity to work lawfully, will have a remarkable and positive impact on both the quality of protection for refugees, and help the government address its legitimate concerns about criminality and security that pervade the lives of all undocumented migrants in Malaysia,” it said. 

The world refugee organisation, in a statement issued to the New Straits Times, said on its part, it had made a huge investment in tightening its procedures and ensuring the integrity of its documentation, including issuing cards with biometric security features. It added that its new cards, introduced two years ago, allowed law enforcement officers and health authorities to verify their authenticity through “well-established and agreed procedures”. 

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The UN body said in the statement that it had engaged with the relevant ministries and enforcement agencies, such as the police and Immigration Department, in finding ways to work closely “on common issues of security and humanitarian protection”. Adding that it was unhappy with NST’s frontpage headline “UNHCR Card Scandal”, which quoted senior government officials, a minister and deputy minister saying the issue of fake UNHCR cards was a major bane to the country, it said, “UNHCR finds the coverage of today’s articles on UNHCR’s processing grossly inaccurate and misleading. “UNHCR’s responsibility to protect refugees in Malaysia is derived from its authority under the United Nations.

 Unlike many other parts of the world, the government is not involved in the active processing and protection of refugees in this country,” it said. The UNHCR added that for more than 40 years, it had been actively working in Malaysia and had helped find protection solutions for hundreds of thousands of refugees displaced by war and conflict in this region. 

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This, they said, included the resettlement to a third country for some 100,000 refugees, as part of its solidarity and burden-sharing agreement with Malaysia. “The UNHCR has a robust processing system to determine those who are genuinely in need of international protection, as it was part of its protection responsibility, and only those found truly in need received their UNHCR identity documents,” it said.

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

Why do we only like refugees if they’re pretty?

OCTOBER 7 — Our dear Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak got quite a lot of flak online after he announced in New York that Malaysia was going to give shelter to 3,000 Syrian refugees.

Hold up, Malaysian denizens asked: What about the Syrians who are already here? The Afghans? The Rohingya? 

Since when did Malaysia start making a distinction between refugees and so-called “illegals.”

Here’s what you need to know: Malaysia has never signed the 1951 Refugee Convention, which gives protection and accords certain rights to refugees. 

A refugee under the terms of said convention is defined thus:

“A person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.”

The Malay word for refugee is simply “pelarian” — stemming from the word “lari” or run. Sadly, it is often used as a derogatory term here, because it’s not just the government who doesn’t recognise refugees — it’s us, too.

Being a refugee means that to stay in your home country means almost certain death, and the only chance at having some sort of life is to run.

Just look back in history and there are plenty of names of people who had to run — from wars, civil unrest or persecution. 

Refugees who unluckily end up in Malaysia often come here with nothing but the clothes on their backs. What do they find? Locals who shun them. Employers who mislead and abuse them. Policemen who harass them for bribes and immigration officials who will either deport or detain them.

The truth is, it isn’t just Malaysia or Malaysians who have distaste for refugees. Even Angelina Jolie, the UNHCR’s celebrity spokesperson, has said that her own attempts at fundraising from the Hollywood set for refugees proved so futile, she said she would have been better off giving her own money than trying to solicit it from that crowd.

Part of the reason for that is the notion of scarcity; the prevailing fear and paranoia that refugees would take from us what we need for our own people. We do not want these outsiders; we see them only as burdens and never as people.

Except of course, if they’re pretty. During the Bosnian war, plenty of Caucasian-looking Bosnians found temporary refuge in Malaysia and they were treated like beautiful, living curios. One NGO was even proposing “breeding” them with locals to produce beautiful children. How dehumanising is that; to treat human beings as though they were no different from livestock or exotic pets.

Perhaps Najib wants brownie points for helping Muslim brethren, but in that regard, why then are Palestinians who escape to Malaysia not given shelter? Why are they treated little differently from other undocumented migrants?

I guess it’s easier to care about Palestinians or Syrians when they’re on the news, but not when they’re on our doorsteps asking for food and shelter.

What I’d like to see is for agencies to stop bringing in foreign workers, for Malaysia to ratify the refugee convention and for Malaysians in general to start seeing refugees as people who, through no fault of their own, desperately need aid.

I know that’s as likely as us finding out where that donation came from, but you can’t blame this ex-UNHCR staffer from hoping. So please, before you say an unkind word about “illegals”, “Banglas” and “bloody foreigners”, turn on the news and remind yourself that the world can be a terrible, horrible place. 

It’s up to us to try and make it a little less so.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.

- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com

South Korea to Grant Work and Housing to 30 Myanmar Refugees as Part of U.N. Resettlement Program, Justice Ministry Says

The Ministry of Justice of South Korea confirmed on Monday that the government is taking steps to welcome 30 Myanmar refugees as part of a United Nations-led resettlement initiative for refugees.

In a Yonhap News Report on Sept. 15 it was said that the Ministry of Justice is screening eligible Myanmar refugees who are currently living in the Mae Sot camp near the Myanmar-Thailand border. 30 selected candidates will be brought into South Korea in December where they will be granted benefits and opportunities.

South Korea is the second Asian country to help facilitate the resettlement of refugees after Japan, which first accepted refugees in 2010, Jakarta Post writes.

This move from the South Korean government is in line with the resettlement program established by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, which was brought to life two years after South Korea's Refugee Act of 2013 took effect.

Under the resettlement program South Korea will bring in 30 refugees from Myanmar starting this year until 2017. "We will run a pilot project to admit 30 refugees every year until 2017 and see whether we will continue the program after monitoring the results," a representative from the Ministry of Justice said.

Those selected will be granted refugee status and F-2 visas that will allow them to live and work in South Korea.

To help them transition into their new lives, the refugees will undergo Korean language courses and trainings for employment for a period six to 12 months at a support center for refugees located in the west port city of Incheon. After they complete these programs, the refugees will then be transported to their official settlements.

KBS World Radio also reports that United Nation's resettlement program is now being implemented in 28 other countries including the U.S., Australia, and Japan.

The South Korean government chose refugees from Myanmar because its people allegedly share a similar cultural background, and also there is already an established Burmese community in the country.

Germany urges G7, Arab nations talk on refugees

BERLIN: Germany on Wednesday said it would call for a meeting of G7 and Arab countries this month to discuss the Syrian refugee crisis and extra funds for the UN refugee agency.

“It is a scandal that the UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) is so underfunded that food rations are being halved in refugee camps” in the Middle East, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.

Speaking in parliament, Steinmeier said he would propose a meeting with his counterparts from G7 and Arab nations on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, set to open on September 15.

“During the General Assembly week in New York, I will issue an invitation for a short session of the G7 and the Arab nations and say that if we really care about the fate of these people then we must ensure that the UNHCR gets the funds needed to give them daily food rations,” Steinmeier said.

A government official told AFP only that “planning is ongoing” for such talks, without giving further details.

Germany has taken in a record wave of refugees, many fleeing conflict in Syria and Iraq, with arrivals expected to reach 800,000 this year in the EU’s biggest economy, four times last year’s total.

Germany in June hosted a summit of Group of Seven (G7) large industrialised democracies, which also include Britain, Canada, France, Italy, the United States, and Japan, which took over the group’s presidency from Germany.

– AFP

Refugee resettled in Cambodia under Australia deal 'wants to go home'

Agence France Presse

PHNOM PENH: A Myanmar Rohingya refugee recently resettled in Cambodia in a controversial and lucrative deal with Australia wants to go home, a Cambodian official said Monday.

Under Canberra's hardline immigration policy, asylum-seekers who arrive by boat are denied resettlement in Australia and sent to Papua New Guinea and Nauru, even if they are genuine refugees.

In a deal that was condemned by rights groups and the U.N., Cambodia agreed to take in Australia's unwanted refugees in exchange for millions of dollars of aid over the next four years.

Only those who volunteer are resettled.

Cambodia received its first batch of Nauru-held refugees - three Iranians and one ethnic Rohingya man from Myanmar - in early June.

But the Rohingya, a 25-year-old man, wants to return to Myanmar because of "homesickness," General Khieu Sopheak, the spokesman for the Cambodian Interior Ministry, told AFP.

"We are not opposing this. After resettling here in Cambodia, he has been meeting with the Burmese (Myanmar) embassy. We received the news from the Burmese embassy that the man wants to go back home," he said, adding that his father visited the man recently.

He said the Myanmar embassy in Phnom Penh had sent letters to the Cambodian Foreign Ministry and Australian immigration authorities to seek their view on the Rohingya's wish to return.

"In principle, we have no objection to (his return to Myanmar)," Khieu Sopheak said.

He added that the man, who was born in 1990, is now "waiting for travelling documents from the Burmese embassy; then we will let him go."

After the four refugees arrived in Cambodia in June, they were whisked away to a new life at an undisclosed location with the help of the International Organization for Migration which is tasked with helping them settle in.

The media have not yet been allowed to meet or interview the four refugees.

The IOM said it was unable to comment on the case "due to the refugee's request for privacy and our own confidentiality rules."

Refugee advocates say asylum-seekers heading for Australia do not generally want to be sent to Cambodia, a country that has been criticized for its own record of helping refugees, particularly Vietnamese Montagnards who are often deported.

Conditions on Nauru and Papua New Guinea have also been heavily criticized.

Khieu Sopheak said the Rohingya man's desire to return to Myanmar would not affect the deal with Australia.

"The agreement is still valid, we will continue to take in more refugees. But for now we have to wait until the other three refugees integrate into Cambodian society before we are going to accept more refugees," he added.

Austria, Germany open borders to migrants

Migrants cross the Hungarian-Austrian border on foot after their arrival into a transit zone by public bus to the Hungarian border, between Hungarian Hegyeshalom and Austrian Nickeldorf. — AFP photo

Migrants walk across border from Hungary, more arriving in Budapest

HEGYESHALOM, Hungary/VIENNA: Austria and Germany threw open their borders to thousands of exhausted migrants yesterday, bussed to the Hungarian border by a right-wing government that had tried to stop them but was overwhelmed by the sheer numbers reaching Europe’s frontiers.

After days of confrontation and chaos, Hungary’s right-wing government deployed dozens of buses to take migrants from Budapest and pick up over 1,000 others – many of them refugees from the Syrian war – who had set off doggedly by foot on Friday down the main highway to Vienna.

Austria said it had agreed with Germany that it would allow the migrants access, waiving the rules of an asylum system brought to breaking point by Europe’s worst refugee crisis since the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s.

Hungary insisted the bus rides were a one-off, even as hundreds more migrants began gathering in Budapest yesterday, part of seemingly relentless surge through the Balkan peninsula from Turkey and Greece. Wrapped in blankets and sleeping bags against the rain, long lines of weary migrants, many carrying small, sleeping children, climbed off buses on the Hungarian side of the border and walked into Austria, receiving fruit and water from aid workers. Waiting Austrians held signs that read, ‘Refugees welcome.’

“We’re happy. We’ll go to Germany,” said a Syrian man who gave his name as Mohammed. Another, who declined to be named, said: “Hungary should be fired from the European Union. Such bad treatment.”

Bavarian state police said they expected the first refugees to arrive in Germany around midday (1000 GMT), with national rail operator Deutsche Bahn saying a special train with 500 refugees aboard due to reach Munich around lunchtime.

Hungary, the main entry point into Europe’s borderless Schengen zone for migrants heading northwards through the Balkans, has taken a hard line, vowing to seal its southern frontier within days. Hungarian officials have also painted the crisis as a defence of Europe’s prosperity, identity and ‘Christian values’ against an influx of mainly Muslim migrants.

For days, several thousand camped outside Budapest’s main railway station, where trains to western Europe were cancelled as the government insisted all those entering Hungary be registered and their asylum applications processed in the country as per EU rules.

But on Friday, in separate rapid-fire developments, hundreds broke out of a teeming camp on Hungary’s frontier with Serbia, escaped a stranded train, and took to the highway by foot led by a one-legged Syrian refugee and chanting “Germany, Germany!”

Citing traffic safety, Hungary said it would supply some 100 buses to take them to the Austrian border. But the move marked an admission that the government had lost control in the face of large numbers determined to reach the wealthier nations of northern and western Europe at the end of an often perilous journey from war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. — AFP

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com

Recognise the rights and dignity of asylum seekers and refugees, and eliminate human trafficking

JUNE 20 — The Malaysian Bar acknowledges the indomitable spirit and courage of all refugees on World Refugee Day 2015.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ("UNHCR") in Malaysia reported that as at July 2014 there were 47,352 asylum seekers (pending cases), 98,207 refugees, 40,000 stateless persons, and 80,000 individuals who do not fall into any of these other categories, residing in Malaysia. This brings the population of concern to a staggering total of 265,559.[1]

Unlike economic migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in Malaysia are often victims of various forms of persecution, oppression and deprivation. They are subjected to harassment, extortion, physical abuse or assault and ill treatment. These persons live in an environment of fear, and insecurity.

Our laws do not accord asylum seekers and refugees due recognition, care and protection. They are treated as "illegal immigrants" under the Immigration Act 1959/1963.[2] Thus, they are exposed to arrest, detention, whipping and deportation. This unacceptable state of affairs is compounded by Malaysia's obdurate reticence to ratify the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees ("the 1951 Convention") and the 1967 Protocol Relating (“the 1967 Protocol”) to the Status of Refugees, both which are instruments encapsulating customary international law in relation to the recognition of the socio-economic rights of refugees and the provision of humanitarian assistance and social integration.

Thus, asylum seekers and refugees are prohibited from seeking lawful employment. They are therefore forced to support themselves on a casual engagement basis without any lawfully binding employment contract. This makes them vulnerable to exploitation and discrimination as regards the non-payment of wages, long working hours, and harsh working conditions.

The Malaysian Bar renews its call to the Government to ratify the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol; to put in place a suitable legal and administrative framework for dealing with refugees and asylum seekers; and to work closely with stakeholders such as UNHCR Malaysia, civil society organisations, and the Bar towards achieving holistic and humane solutions for them.

The Malaysian Bar also calls on the government to ensure that a proper recruitment and monitoring system under the Ministry of Human Resources is put in place to ensure that asylum seekers and refugees are accorded basic employment rights in respect of wages, fair working hours, off-days, medical benefits, and workplace health and safety protection. In this regard, the various measures and recommendations contained in the proposal entitled "Developing a Comprehensive Policy Framework for Refugees and Asylum Seekers", which was prepared by the Malaysian Bar in 2011, should be immediately implemented.[3] This will lead to an overall improvement in the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees.

The Malaysian Bar also wishes to highlight the importance of a regional approach in dealing with concerns regarding asylum seekers and refugees. In this connection, a deeply worrying aspect of the problem is that of human trafficking and migrant smuggling. All nations in this region share a common responsibility to confront and deal with this scourge. The recent reported allegation that the Government of Australia paid human traffickers to return 65 asylum seekers to Indonesia is very shocking.[4] Such irresponsible conduct, if proven, deserves condemnation and must attract criminal prosecution. It certainly militates against the fight to eradicate human trafficking and migrant smuggling in this region.

World Refugee Day assumes particular significance to Malaysia this year due to the recent boat-people saga off our shores and the discovery of mass graves as well as “death camps” at the Perlis-Thailand border.[5] This was an unmitigated tragedy of human suffering and loss of lives. It has brought into sharp focus Malaysia’s approach towards asylum seekers, refugees, as well as the perpetrators and victims of human trafficking and migrant smuggling. It is a timely reminder to the Government to respect the rights and dignity of asylum seekers and refugees.

[1] “2015 UNHCR subregional operations profile – South-East Asia”, UNHCR: The UN Refugee Agency (accessed at http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e4884c6.html# on 17 June 2015)

[2] Immigration Act 1959/1963 [Act 155] section 55E(7)

[3] Bar Council Malaysia Memorandum on “Developing a Comprehensive Policy Framework for Refugees and Asylum-Seekers in Malaysia” dated 20 June 2011, developed at the Roundtable on Developing a Comprehensive Policy Framework for Refugees and Asylum-Seekers organised by the Bar Council on 23 June 2009.

[4] “Prime Minister Tony Abbott dodges questions on people-smuggler payment claims”, Sydney Morning Herald, 14 June 2015 (accessed at http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/prime-minister-tony-abbott-dodges-questions-on-peoplesmuggler-payment-claims-20150614-ghnger on 18 June 2015); “People smuggler cash: Stacks police say were paid to send asylum seekers on a ‘suicide mission’”,Sydney Morning Herald, 16 June 2015 (accessed athttp://www.smh.com.au/world/people-smuggler-cash-stacks-police-say-were-paid-to-send-asylum-seekers-on-a-suicide-mission-20150616-ghpa36 on 19 June 2015).

[5] “Rohingya and Bangladeshi Boat People Humanitarian Crisis: Prompt and Concrete Measures Needed”, Malaysian Bar, 19 May 2015 (accessed at http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/press_statements/press_release_%7C_rohingya_and_bangladeshi_boat_people_humanitarian_crisis_prompt_and_concrete_measures_needed.html on 15 June 2015); “Malaysian Government Must Bring the “Death Camps” Human Traffickers and Migrant Smugglers to Justice”, Malaysian Bar, 28 May 2015 (accessed at http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/press_statements/press_release_%7C_malaysian_government_must_bring_the_death_camps_human_traffickers_and_migrant_smugglers_to_justice.html on 15 June 2015); “Eradicate Rampant Corruption, and Stem the Loss of Lives”, Malaysian Bar, 8 June 2015 (accessed at http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/press_statements/press_release_%7C_eradicate_rampant_corruption_and_stem_the_loss_of_lives.html on 15 June 2015).

- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com

Refugees in Thai Border Camps Want Myanmar Government to Recognizer Their Education

Refugee schools in Mae La providing the children who live in the camp with primary and secondary education.

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MAE LA – An old cartoon is circulating on social media. It depicts a tree, a schoolmaster and assorted creatures lined up including a goldfish, an elephant and a seal.

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The schoolmaster says, “For a fair selection, everybody has to take the same exam – please climb that tree.” Beneath the cartoon is a quote from Albert Einstein: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it’s stupid.”

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Houng Hsar, a refugee from Karenni camp 1 in far northern Thailand, is metaphorically the goldfish who tried to climb a tree. A polite, self-assured 17-year-old, Houng Hsar faced a problem last year: If he completed high-school education in camp his graduation certificate would not be recognized in his home country, Myanmar, or his host country, Thailand.

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As a consequence, he returned to Myanmar to try to enter the government education system and get a recognized high-school graduate’s certificate.”I went back to Myanmar last summer and tried to get into Standard 10 there,” he said. “The principal said I needed to take the tests in all subjects of Standard 9. But in almost every subject the curriculum was very different.

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Therefore, I did not take the tests. I choose to come back [to the camp].”Curriculum is not the only challenge presented to returning refugee students. The majority of refugees are ethnic Karen who are not taught in Myanmar language, nor do they speak it in domestic or social environments. School-level entrance tests in Myanmar, however, are only in Myanmar language.

These requisites – having to sit entrance exams in an unfamiliar language based on unfamiliar curriculum – will, for many returning refugee students, be an insurmountable barrier to accessing government education systems. Those undertaking the process face being placed in age inappropriate classes, impacting a child’s learning, social and psychological development. Other refugee children will invariably forgo education altogether. This leads to child protection issues: Keeping children in school is acknowledged as a very good way to protect them from abuse.

A recently released study titled “Beyond Access” conducted by Save The Children Thailand confirms that returning refugee students are struggling not only to gain access to the government education system but also that they have no support even if they succeed. These challenges are compounded by issues related to teaching methods.

While refugee students are likely to have had some exposure to student-centered, participatory learning, education in Myanmar is predominantly by rote, even at tertiary levels. Thein Lwin, director of the National Network for Education Reform (NNER), said: “The system of government testing is reciting the exact same words from the textbooks in the government schools. The grading system depends on how much children can memorize.”

More fundamental issues regarding Myanmar’s education system are made clear in the Unicef 2013 Myanmar annual report. At 1.7 per cent, the ratio of government spending on education is one of the lowest in the world. The end result is that just over half of Myanmar’s children |complete primary education. The figure is even lower among ethnic groups.

Comparisons between refugee camp and Myanmar government education lead to a disconcerting hypocrisy. While the government is reluctant to recognize refugee education, observations from The Border Consortium (TBC), in its report ‘What Refugees Say’, note “The comparative low-cost access to and quality of |education opportunities in the refugee camps is a highly sought alternative to the expensive and low-quality opportunities in rural areas of southeast Burma.”

Sai Thip, a student from Shan State, said: “…we don’t have basic levels, like government school. As I cannot continue in Burma, it is better if I move to the refugee camp. If I improve or graduate here, maybe I can go back and help my community.”

This desire to become educated, return to Myanmar and help struggling, local communities is shared by many refugees. Naw Mu, a petite 11-year-old, said: “I would like to become a nurse, to heal patients. Children will be able to learn |better if they are healthy.” Other students want to be teachers because villages don’t have teachers, or engineers because building standards in Myanmar are poor.

K’ Paw Shee, headmaster of a camp-based high school, asserts that older and graduated refugee students can positively contribute to development in Myanmar.

Currently, however, camp-based high-school graduation certificates are not formally recognised in Myanmar when applying for tertiary education or jobs requiring high school completion. This affects their access to livelihoods.

These conditions for returning refugee students have ramifications in the broader context of refugee repatriation from the Thai-Myanmar border. The governing international humanitarian principle is that refugees return voluntarily and with dignity. Non-recognition of refugee |education, however, represents a serious impediment to any meaningful definition of a voluntary return.

The corollary of these factors begs the question, why does the Myanmar government not take a more reconciliatory approach to the issue of refugee camp-based education? Part of the answer lies in the historically interwoven, often acrimonious, relationship between Myanmar’s |government and education.

For almost 50 years (1962-2010), under successive totalitarian military regimes, education suffered in Myanmar. Bans on teaching in the mother tongue as a means of cultural and political oppression of |ethnic groups, the closure for more than a decade of tertiary institutions nationwide following the 1988 student-led demonstrations, the grotesquely inadequate military expenditure on education – these are examples of what led the once enviable Myanmar education system to become one of the worst in Asia.

This repression saw an increasing reliance upon parallel education systems. Ethnic governments established de facto education departments – the Karen, the Karenni, Kachin, Mon, Shan. These taught a non-military curriculum in the mother tongue. Monastic, Christian and Islamic faith-based schools provided further education as did after-school schools supplementing the inadequate Myanmar education system.Today, after four years of fledgling democracy, these parallel education systems, like refugee-camp education, are not recognized by the government. Instead the government, often in partnership with Myanmar-based international aid organizations, pursues its own education agenda.In September 2014 the National Education Law was adopted by Parliament. Thein Lwin of the NNER said: “The National Education Law is controlled by the National Education Commission. The government formed this National Education Commission. Government |ministers sit on the commission. In this law, democratic rights are deprived, |human rights are deprived, and freedom of education is also deprived.”Students, local non-government organizations, and civil society opposed the bill. Concern focused on curriculum review and decentralization, opportunities for native language instruction, restrictions on |student assembly, and the powers of the National Education Commission, which was widely perceived as a proxy for state control.Returning to Karenni Camp 1, Houng Hsar maintained his ambitions. “If I have enough education, I want to accomplish one of my dreams.”

His plan now is to travel 600km to a border town in Thailand. “I will try to get in to a school in Mae Sot or other schools,” he said. “After studying, I plan to work in an organization. After that, step by step, I plan to do politics.” This is his dream.

The ultimate question is who is going to help Houng Hsar and 30,000 other refugee students fulfill their dreams for a recognized education? Will it be UNHCR that lobbies for tangible substance to the notion of voluntary repatriation with |dignity? Will it be the Myanmar government acknowledging that time has come for transparent and inclusive reform of national education? Will the leadership of ethnic groups play their part placing education on the table at ceasefire discussions? It is incumbent upon each of these stakeholders to play its role. Currently, this is not happening. If it were, Houng Hsar would not be the goldfish who tried but failed to climb a tree. Instead he would be a student about to begin his final year of schooling in Myanmar, and with a very real prospect of a university education in Yangon ahead of him.

Timothy Syrota is an author, photographer and film director. He recently directed an advocacy film on behalf of Save the Children Thailand supporting the rights of refugees to have their education recognized. (timothysyrota@gmail.com)

Trafficking snakehead might be hiding in Ranong

The kingpin behind the trafficking of Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi immigrants is believed to have gone into hiding in Ranong, bordering Kawthoung in Myanmar. – Reuters pic, May 31, 2015.The 'snakehead' behind the trafficking of Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi immigrants is believed to have gone into hiding in Ranong, bordering Kawthoung in Myanmar.

This is to avoid detection by the authorities as the heat intensifies to track down the mastermind behind a human trafficking network, going by the observation of locals at Ban Ta Lok here, where a mass grave containing six bodies believed to be that of human trafficking victims was found.

(Snakehead is an international criminal slang for human smugglers)

Recently, Bernama and TV3 which visited the mass grave, about a month after it was discovered, was informed by the locals that the illegal activity was operated by the snakehead's henchmen.

The henchmen are in hiding at a place called Bukit Gelas, not far from where the mass grave was located.

Prior to the discovery of the mass graves, Surin Mochen, 85, pointed out that the likes of Rohingya refugees could be seen roaming around the village, though not that often.

"The henchmen brought the refugees from somewhere. The henchmen have a boss (snakehead) who is from Ranong," he said when met at a mosque where the remains of the victims were placed to have prayers performed, about four weeks ago.

Another local, Yunus Hamid, 45, who was met at the location verified Surin's information.

"The people here are saying the 'boss' (snakehead) is from Ranong, (but) he does not come here. According to local hearsay, the 'boss' in question is of Thai origin.

"Currently, there is no development on the victims of human trafficking. Now, there are soldiers patrolling the surrounding areas," he said.

Ranong is located along the Northern Andaman Coast in the south of Thailand and is easily accessible via boat from Kawthoung, Myanmar.

Today, Thai online media ‘The Daily Star’ reported that Region 9 police deputy commander, Pol Maj-General Putthichat Ekachan was quoted as saying that 81 arrest warrants had been issued thus far, including four new arrest warrants. The arrest warrants were in connection with human trafficking activities. – Bernama, May 31, 2015.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Big things grow from small things for Karen people in Thailand

The Karen are a people stranded between Myanmar and Thailand, recognised by neither country
 

From the Diocese of Melbourne

From a freewill collection at Werribee church, when people heard of the illness of a good friend of Karen refugees, a good idea has grown into a community centre in Thailand for Karen Anglicans from Myanmar who decide not to go home.

It is a remarkable narrative testifying to the generosity of Karen refugees and their recognition of heroes.

It all started when Anette Lemonius, pastoral worker for the Karen at Christ Church Bangkok for 14 years, fell ill with a terminal illness in 2012.

Many refugees who knew and respected her in the refugee camps had by then moved to Australia and lived at Werribee. They immediately took up a collection at St Thomas’ Church, Werribee, which amounted to $3,000 cash.

From other donors this has since grown to $20,000 which has paid for the construction of a hall in Anette Lemonius’ memory which seated 120 for the dedication and opening.

The new hall has a view of the mountains of Myanmar across which many refugees escaped during the long civil war. Between is the Moie River.

Of the 50,000 in Mae La camp, more than 1700 are regular worshipping Anglicans in three churches. From that grew another 2000 regulars in 5 villages nearby.

Bishop Stylo from Pa’an just over the border from Mae Salid, performed the dedication today before 120 people.

Mogens Lemonius, husband of Anette and a UN agriculture scientist, spoke today of his wife as “the compassionate counsellor”. She listened intently. A few days before her death, she asked to be buried with items which “bore witness to her Karen identity.”

Canon David Kharoe thanked donors towards the cost of the hall, saying “You have enabled us to make our dream come true.”

Bishop Stylo said, “God has already consecrated this hall because she is a daughter of God.”

Dean Yee Chin Wah of Singapore described seeing Anette being welcomed at a refugee camp in 2009, said “This is the mother of the Karen people.”

Archdeacon Alan Nichols, Multicultural Ministries Co-ordinator in the Melbourne Diocese, said Anette was a hero of the Karen people, like some of the women in Romans chapter 16 whom St Paul called deacons, apostles and fellow worker, who worked hard.”

Naw Tamla, general secretary of the Karen Anglican Ministry on the Border, told the audience the long-term purposes of the property, including a new two-storey building with meeting rooms, offices, training facilities and space for retreats. “And we want to stand on our own two feet with income generation,” she said.

Present at the dedication from Melbourne were the Revd Ron Peterson (Werribee), the Revd Jeremy Morgan (Collingwood) and Archdeacon Alan Nichols (Multicultural Ministry). Also there was the Revd Lay Kaw Baw, vicar of Inverleigh, who was visiting relatives in Myanmar and crossed the border for the occasion.

They represented a 25-year partnership between the Karen refugees in Thailand with both the Diocese of Melbourne and Anglican Overseas Aid.

Australia to take more refugees from priority regions in the Middle East, Africa and Asia

AUSTRALIA will accept an extra 6,250 refugees in 2012/13 from source and transit countries, as part of the government's plan to discourage irregular boat arrivals. 

 

The Gillard government announced in August it would increase Australia's annual humanitarian intake from 13,750 to 20,000, and to 27,000 within five years.

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen says the extra resettlements will come from priority regions in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

"The increase in places target those in most need, including those vulnerable people in camps around the world," he said in a statement.

"We are providing more opportunities for vulnerable and displaced people to pursue safer resettlement options in Australia as part of an orderly humanitarian program."

This would reinforce the government's "no-advantage" policy by showing that no special treatment would be given to those arriving by boat.

Mr Bowen, who has been visiting refugee shelters and camps in Lebanon this week, said the decision will change the lives of people languishing in camps and other places around the world.

"As I witnessed in Lebanon, countries in the region bear a significant burden, generously providing protection space to refugees," he said.

With the humanitarian program increased by more than 40 per cent, Australia is now the second largest resettlement country in the world behind the US, Mr Bowen said.

The increase in resettlements will include up to 2000 African refugees, 3800 Iraqis from Syria, Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, and 2000 Afghans from countries in the region.

The Opposition said in response that the government is expanding the humanitarian program to give more permanent visas for people arriving by boat.

"The increase in refugee visas under Labor will be so people coming on boats, not those waiting in dire need across the world who come through the front door, are still given permanent visas,'' immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said in a statement.

The people smugglers' product was still firmly on the table, he said.

http://www.perthnow.com.au

Refugees to share stories

ORDINARY Tasmanians will have the opportunity to hear extraordinary refugee stories at a University of Tasmania forum tonight .

Iranian, Burmese and Sierra Leonian refugees will tell their stories at a forum called The Refugee Experience at the Stanley Burbury Theatre.

Organised by the UTAS School of Government and Tasmanian senator Lisa Singh, the forum aims to provide the community with an understanding of the decision to seek refuge in Australia.

Burmese man Eh Eh Tin will speak of his flight from Burma to Thailand and then to Tasmania. Mr Tin belongs to the Karen ethnic minority, who have suffered persecution from the Burmese Government.

Mr Tin's village lay right in the middle of the fighting.

"I can't go back because of the killing and fighting," he said.

Mr Tin was a teacher in his home country and is studying information technology in Hobart. He has lived in Tasmania for 4 1/2 years with his wife and three children, two of whom were born here.

He admitted when he was asked by Senator Singh to speak at the forum he said he was very, nervous.

"I have never done public speaking before," he said.

http://www.themercury.com.au