Trump administration to allow 872 refugees into US this week

WASHINGTON: The US government has granted waivers to let 872 refugees into the country this week, despite President Donald Trump’s executive order on Friday temporarily banning entry of refugees from any country, according to an internal Department of Homeland Security document seen by Reuters.

A Homeland Security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the waivers, noting that the refugees were considered “in transit” and had already been cleared for resettlement before the ban took effect.

Refugees preparing for resettlement typically have severed personal ties and relinquished their possessions, leaving them particularly vulnerable if their plans to depart are suddenly canceled.

The waivers, granted by the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), came amid international protests against Trump’s rushed executive order. Critics said the order in some cases was not clearly communicated to the agencies responsible for implementing it.

It was not known if additional waivers would be granted, the official said. The document did not give the nationalities of the refugees who will be admitted into the United States.



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Over the weekend, non-refugee visitors from seven majority-Muslim countries also targeted in Trump’s executive order were detained, deported and in some cases blocked from boarding flights to the United States.

The countries covered by the traveler ban were Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen.

The internal DHS document said that between late Friday and early Monday 348 visa holders were prevented from boarding US-bound flights. In addition, more than 200 people landed in the United States but were denied entry, the document showed.

More than 735 people were pulled aside for questioning by US Customs and Border Protection officers in airports, including 394 legal permanent US residents holding green cards, over the same time period.

Trump said the executive order he signed on Friday was designed to protect the United States “from foreign terrorist entry.”

The order stopped all refugee admissions for 120 days while government officials determine how to ensure that any refugees admitted do not pose a threat.

The 872 refugees to be admitted this week, under the waivers, were screened using Obama administration procedures, which typically take two years and include several interviews and a background check.

The DHS said on Sunday night that green card holders would be allowed to board US-bound flights, but would be subjected to additional scrutiny upon arrival.



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The public guidance from DHS also said some people from the seven majority-Muslim countries could be allowed entry to the United States on a case-by-case basis.

Congressional Democrats and some foreign countries, including key US allies, put pressure on Trump on Monday over the executive order.

Democratic Senators tried to force a vote on a bill to rescind the order, but were blocked by a Republican lawmaker. Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said she had 27 co-sponsors for the legislation. But under Senate rules it takes only one member to prevent a vote, and Republican Senator Tom Cotton blocked consideration of the measure.

The Democrats’ leader in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, said he would bring legislation on Monday evening seeking to end the ban, although the measure stood little chance of being passed by the Republican-led Congress. http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com

UN call to ease visa restrictions for refugee students

UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, is calling on universities to support scholarships for refugees and on governments to invest in education for refugees and to ease the provision of visas for refugee students. 

Melissa Fleming, chief spokesperson for UNHCR, spoke toUniversity World News in advance of making the plea in a speech at the annual conference of the European Association for International Education in Liverpool in the United Kingdom on Friday.

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“We are calling on countries as part of the global responsibility sharing not just to think in terms of funding or resettlement of refugees but also of student visas,” she said.

“Sometimes it is not up to the universities but to governments to say 'okay, if this is going to be our part in sharing responsibility for the global refugee problem, we will encourage student visas'.”

Fleming said currently there are a lot of universities willing to provide scholarships but they are facing red tape.

“To try to get a Syrian student into a US university, it takes two years to go through the screening process for resettlement to the US,” she said. “Yet there are a couple of examples – Ireland, which has a number of scholarships for Syrian students and Portugal as well – where it is not just the universities but the government also offering visas as their contribution to alleviating the refugee crisis.”

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Fleming said the key message of a new UNHCR report, Missing Out: Refugee education in crisis, released on Thursday is that the current approach to supporting education of refugees is “short-sighted” and “dumb”.

Only about half of refugee children are in primary school, one in four go to secondary school and only 1% of refugee youth have a chance to go to university.

This compares with UNESCO figures of 34% of young people of university age accessing higher education around the world.

“This is not just a situation of haves and have nots; it is short-sighted and dumb, frankly, not to put everything into investment in refugee children and youth."

She said the average time spent as a refugee is 20 years and many refugees stem from conflicts in areas of great strategic interest such as Afghanistan and Syria.

“Refugees would be the future architects and engineers, mayors and doctors and peace-builders of their war-torn country because virtually all refugees want to return home.”

Conversely, there is a lot of evidence that if we don’t put a child in education, they become susceptible to abuse and recruitment by armed groups, and for youths with no prospect of education or a job, working for the local warlord in some situations may be the only option.

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Perpetuating violence

So if you don’t invest in education, you “risk perpetuating the cycle of conflict and violence that you are investing in military and diplomacy to try to stop”, Fleming says.

Fleming said that a key problem for UNHCR is that its needs-based budget is designed in a way that makes life-saving the essential priority, followed by recovery from trauma, and support for other more long-term needs gets cut when the money – pledged by governments – doesn’t come in.

This lack of foresight creates a gaping hole, particularly in education. Donors are all on board when it comes to understanding the essential need for primary education, but when it comes to secondary education, there just isn’t enough money made available and higher education is off the scale altogether. 

It becomes a vicious circle because if children don’t go to primary school, they won’t make it to secondary; if they don’t go to secondary they won’t make it to higher education, and even if they do make it to secondary, they face the problem of lack of documentation of their secondary achievements or exam passes that might qualify them to move on to the tertiary level.

“Money talks,” says Fleming. “It can help convince countries to integrate refugees into their national education system rather than being stuck in an informal parallel system which is often not accredited.”

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“It is more difficult for the refugees,” she says, “because they then have to learn in the local language. But they are doing this in Lebanon with double shifts in the schools, a huge exercise that needs political will as the government has to adapt the school system if there are large numbers of refugees – but they are not going to unless there is the funding.”

There are lots of obstacles to negotiate, from the general underfunding of UNHCR and other humanitarian organisations, to refugees being in a very disadvantaged position. They might not have their high school transcripts with them or they forgot their high school diploma when they fled as the bomb dropped on their house, so there is a lot of red tape to negotiate.

The demand is increasing year by year. This summer’s figure of65.3 million people forcibly displaced worldwide compares with 38 million 10 years ago, and the funding is not keeping up with the needs, Fleming says.

UN summit

A UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants is being held in New York on Monday, in which the UN General Assembly will address the issue. The draft of the outcomes includes a pledge to support good quality primary and secondary education in safe learning environments for all refugee children within a few months of the initial displacement. And there is a specific pledge to support early childhood education and “promote tertiary education, skills training and vocational education”.

The text recognises that “in conflict and crisis situations, higher education serves as a powerful driver for change, shelters and protects a critical group of young men and women by maintaining their hopes for the future, fosters inclusion and non-discrimination, and acts as a catalyst for the recovery and rebuilding of post-conflict countries”.

The day after the summit, President Barack Obama has called aLeaders’ Summit on Refugees, whose purpose, according to US National Security Advisor Susan Rice, is to take direct action and “urge and support robust action by other UN member states”. 

New and significant concrete commitments are to be made, she says, to address the problem that “massive numbers of refugees are turning to dangerous and illegal smuggling networks in search of safety; and millions more face long-term dependence in first asylum countries, without access to lawful employment and education”.

The summits are a response to the European refugee crisis, Fleming says. “All of a sudden the world is noticing that there is a large number of people on the move. The meeting will not resolve the huge structural challenges immediately, but it will definitely launch a new framework for taking care of refugees at the outset.”

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Chain broken

The problem is that refugees are moving from one country to the next when they find they can’t work or find a way to put their children in school and the chain of education that leads up to higher education is immediately broken.

“When we surveyed refugees coming from Syria to Greece and moving to Austria, Germany and Sweden, we asked what was driving them to risk their lives again in rickety boats to move to other countries in Europe, and all of them were saying 'I don’t have the ability to make a living and ensure my kids get an education'.”

In Turkey only around 30% of refugee children are in school, in Jordan 70% and in Lebanon 40%. “Countries in Europe did not realise how much refugees would risk to get their children a chance to get an education.”

So many university students came to Europe either directly from Syria or from countries neighbouring Syria and all they wanted to do was continue their education. This presents a big challenge to the richer counties, to sort out red tape, ways of funding places, providing language programmes and bridging programmes to bring students whose education has been cut off by war to readiness for university in a foreign language or country.

There are two pathways that UNHCR highlights. One is investment in schemes like its own DAFI (a German acronym for the Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative) scholarship scheme, which is funded mostly by the German government, and supports scholarships for students in the country of asylum, typically next to the country of conflict they came from, so that they can more easily return home to help rebuild their country when the fighting stops.

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There is also a small but growing number of programmes of blended learning, where a community of learners is created in one learning space and connected online to tutors in partner universities in the country of asylum and in Western countries, with the latter providing accredited qualifications, including diplomas and degrees. Some of the learning is done at a distance online, but in some cases teachers also visit the learning centres in person, depending on the risks involved.

A consortium of this type of 'connected learning' is being developed to spread good practice and provide greater choice for students – typically situated in refugee camps or urban communities of refugees in countries such as Kenya and Jordan – through flexible pathways between providers in the consortium.

The UNHCR report cites the example of Nawa, a 20-year-old Somali refugee who never set foot in a school until she was 16. But thanks to the Fugee School, one of 121 refugee learning centres in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, she was given a chance to learn English and study for her secondary school certificate – and now she has been accepted onto a course at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, where she is doing a foundation course while still volunteering as a teacher in the learning centre.

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Nawa is one of 42 refugee students currently enrolled in three universities in Malaysia as a result of strong advocacy with tertiary institutions by UNHCR.

“Every human being has the right to an education,” she said. “With education, you have the key to unlock every door. Before I came to Malaysia and started at Fugee School, I did not know what I wanted in the future. But now I know what life is like, what opportunities are out there, and I have better skills to serve the world.”

http://www.universityworldnews.com

138 Myanmar detainees in Malaysia set to return home

Kuala Lumpur, Aug 7 (IANS) The first batch of 138 Myanmar nationals detained in Malaysia is set to return home on Monday, official sources said on Sunday.

The detainees, who have been issued Certificate of Identity, under the arrangement with the Kanbawza's Brighter Future Myanmar Foundation will return to Myanmar on a Myanmar International flight from Kuala Lumpur, Myanmar's Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

At present, 2,294 Myanmarese nationals are detained in 11 camps in Malayasia, the sources added.

In March 2015, a Myanmarese Navy warship carried back 102 illegal Myanmarese immigrants from Malaysia who were kept at detention camps.

More than 400,000 Myanmar immigrants are reportedly working in Malaysia, of whom about 300,000 are legal entrants, while about 40,000 are illegal. The rest are involved in various processes for refugee status.

Myanmar authorities are cooperating with Malaysian officials to protect their citizens working in the Southeast Asian country as they are often targeted victims of violence and murder there.

In September 2013, Myanmar started recalling its citizens detained in Malaysia for working illegally there.

Welfare group organises food and clothing giveaway for refugees and the underprivileged in Selayang

A Myanmar refugee leaving with a smile along with her son after receiving the donations.

OVER 500 Myanmar refugees and poor Malaysians in Selayang can observe Ramadan without having to worry about food and clothing for Hari Raya, thanks to the Malaysian International Welfare and Humanitarian Organisation (MyWelfare).

The organisation, a registered society that advocates and supports the welfare and dignity of the marginalised minorities in society, held a Ramadan Garage Giveaway event recently providing them with food packets, clothes and toys.

MyWelfare acting president Badariah Abdul said the organisation’s main focus was to provide welfare and support for refugees and asylum seekers, particularly the Rohingyas from Myanmar.

She also thanked Mon Space (M) Sdn Bhd chief executive officer and executive director Datuk Seri Jessy Lai for donating an ambulance worth RM300,000 and St. John Ambulance Malaysia (Pantai Selangor region) vice-president Datuk Lee Kim Tian for agreeing to operate the ambulance on behalf of MyWelfare.

“We are also indebted to MBI International Sdn Bhd for giving us an initial grant of RM100,000 to enable us to launch our first programme,” added Badariah.

Also present during the charity event were Mon Space (M) Sdn Bhd treasurer Rothman Lim See Chong, Mon Space (M) Sdn Bhd hotel manager Liow Miow Keong along with MyWelfare community adviser Uztaz Rafik and Malaysia freelance journalist, fixer, producer and documentary filmmaker Jules Rahman Ong.

(From left) Lee, Lim, Liow and Badariah briefing St. John Ambulance members on the giveaway.

One of the main components of MyWelfare is providing assistance to refugees who had limited access to healthcare.

Among facilities provided by MyWelfare are Rainbow of Love Informal school for refugee children, free medical clinics in collaboration with IMAM Response and Relief Team (IMARET) and Buddhist Tzu Chi, assistance to negotiate for hospital access in cases of medical emergencies, food and clothing distribution via monthly Garage Giveaways and the collaboration with The Berani Project in developing skills training centre for refugees to earn a living.

Jules said over 150,000 existing registered refugees and asylum seekers with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) did not have official legal recognition in Malaysia.

“Refugees are not allowed to legally work, their children cannot attend formal schools and they have limited medical access.

“The absence of a legal recognition renders them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse,” he said, adding that MyWelfare was supported by public donations and contributions.

Rohingya families happy to celebrate Ramadan in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: Spending his third Ramadan in Malaysia, schoolteacher and Rohingya refugee Arfat Ganumia is not at all optimistic that the newly democratic Myanmar will be rolling out a welcome mat for the Rohingya anytime soon.

The forecast looks the same for this ethnic minority, even as Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) takes the mantle to build a democratic bedrock in formerly authoritarian Myanmar.

However, not all is gloomy.

Arfat, who teaches some 130 children at the Al-Akhlas Rohingya refugee school in Selayang, appreciates Malaysia for its peacefulness, tolerance and generosity, especially during this time of the year.

Back in Myanmar, he said the biggest challenge during Ramadan was for Muslims to perform congregational prayers at the mosque for the five daily prayers andtarawih.

“Sometimes we would get stopped and questioned when we headed to the mosque in a group,” said Arfat, 33, recalling three decades of Ramadan in Myanmar.

There were even times when they were attacked or arrested, he said.

In fact, the Law degree holder added, Rohingya families are happy to be able to celebrate the holy month as Malaysian Muslim families do. They can fast, cook, eat and pray together without worrying about systematic mistreatment due to their identity.

The Myanmar government’s ethnic pigeonholing scheme does not recognise the Rohingya as an ethnic group, causing them to be stateless.

“Alhamdulillah (Praise be to God), I have a good life in Malaysia. I have everything,” he said, grinning from ear to ear.

At the Al-Akhlas school, Ramadan is marked by the spirit of charity from both outside and within the community. This is because the Rohingya are not just free to celebrate their Islamic culture here, but their children are also free to learn.

Checks by The Star at the school showed children aged five to 15 studying English, Burmese, Malay and Mathematics.

Ramadan also typically sees more volunteers arriving at the school’s doorsteps bearing food, clothes and books.

In return, Arfat distributes instant noodles and rice to the families of the Al-Akhlas children and the other schoolteachers.

The families would then prepare and distribute halim among the school community. Halim is a dish made of rice and meat diluted in broth, similar to Malaysia’s bubur.

As of April this year, there are 53,410 Rohingya refugees registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Malaysia.

http://www.thestar.com.my

Malaysia receives 68 migrants from Syria

SUBANG JAYA: Malaysia received 68 Syrian migrants who are seeking refuge from the conflict-torn country Saturday.

The group, consisting of 18 families with 31 children as young as seven-months, arrived in a chartered plane at the Subang Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base at about 11am.

With their bags in tow, the refugees disembarked from the plane to a round of applause from the ground staff, members of non-governmental organisations and politicians waiting below.

Among those welcoming the Syrians were Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim.

"The presence of our brothers and sisters from Syria today renews our commitment, as put forward by our Prime Minister last year, to help solve the problem in Syria and in other Middle Eastern countries now," Dr Ahmad Zahid said in a short ceremony at the base observation lounge.

He stressed that the migrants were being housed in Malaysia on a temporary basis and that they will be issued a temporary pass and other relevant documents to remain here until the situation in Syria stabilises.

In the meantime, Dr Ahmad Zahid said that the Home Ministry would issue temporary work permits to allow the adult migrants, some of whom were engineers, doctors and lecturers, to find work here.

The children would be issued student visas to study in kindergartens, primary and secondary schools and in universities.

They will be housed at a condominium in Setia Alam, with families being allocated a three-bedroom apartment each, he said.

Private companies have helped to sponsor the families during their stay here.

The migrants' movements will be monitored by NGOs and Ministry officials.

At the United Nations General Assembly in New York last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had announced that Malaysia would open its doors to 3,000 Syrian migrants over the next three years to help alleviate the refugee crisis.

About four million Syrian refugees have fled into neighbouring countries since the start of the civil war there in 2011.

Malaysia received 11 Syrians in the first batch of arrivals in December last year.

Dr Ahmad Zahid said Malaysia had targeted 150 Syrian migrants to be brought in for the second batch but had to narrow it down to 68 after some did not pass health or security checks.

In his speech, Dr Ahmad Zahid also suggested that some migrants made the cut but chose not to come to Malaysia because they may have had "the wrong perception" of the country.

"Malaysia is not the United States or a European country so maybe that is why they did not want to come. Maybe they don't know the situation here and that we are a peaceful country with a caring Government and nation.

"I am sure after they hear from the 68 that have come, they will regret not coming here," he said in his speech.

He said Malaysia aimed to bring in another 200 Syrians during the Ramadan fasting month and was in the process of screening migrants in the Bekaa Valley Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon.

Possibility refugees can gain employment in MALAYSIA

High-level government committee looking into five areas refugees could be hired, namely in sectors deemed “appropriate, safe and easily monitored” by the authorities.

PETALING JAYA: A high-level government committee will meet stakeholders to discuss the possibility of permitting refugees in the country to be employed.

Quoting sources, the New Straits Times (NST) reported that the committee will look into five areas where foreigners accorded refugee status by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), could be hired, namely in sectors deemed “appropriate, safe and easily monitored” by the authorities.

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It is believed the committee will look at reviving a shelved pilot project between, among others, the Human Resources and Home Ministries involving the issuance of special employment permits, especially for the Rohingyas.

“If the plan goes through and the refugees are allowed to work, law enforcers will be able to weed out the tens of thousands of illegal immigrants carrying fake UNHCR card,” the daily wrote.

The paper also quoted Immigration Director-General Sakib Kusmi as stating the Cabinet had considered allowing UNHCR cardholders to work in the country.

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Meanwhile in a statement issued to the NST, the Malaysian chapter of the UN body said it was open to having a database for those whose presence here it had sanctioned, and make the database accessible to the authorities.

UNHCR said it was convinced the best way to manage the issue of criminality was to find a common registration system, where it, along with the government could identify the protection needs of refugees.

“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 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,” the statement read.

UNHCR also said it had invested heavily in tightening procedures and ensuring the integrity of its documents were not easily compromised.

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Yesterday the NST reported that fake UNHCR cards, complete with security features, could be easily obtained for a mere RM120.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Shahidan Kassim also hit out at the world refugee orqanisation over the issuance of refugee cards, claiming it was the reason Malaysia was flooded with immigrants.

The minister also alleged the international body had never bothered to consult the government before issuing the said documents.

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Fake UNHCR cards threaten nation of Malaysia

MALAYSIA is not a signatory to the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention, but the country plays host to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which has an office in the capital. Unfortunately, a UNHCR card fraud is happening. The country is being swamped by foreigners shielding behind fake refugee cards. 

The genuine item is, of course, issued by UNHCR, but quite unilaterally, without consultation with the authorities. An investigation by this paper has shown that the fake cards are easy to come by, comparatively inexpensive, have a quick turnaround time and look very much like the real deal. Naturally, heightened concern is to be expected, given the already extant problem of illegal immigrants — numbering in the millions — that the country is grappling with. Police claim that having fake refugees in the country is even more dangerous because the intention behind the procurement of fake cards can be presumed to be sinister. After all, why pay money if one is a genuine refugee?



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And, the attitude of UNHCR in this matter verges on disrespect. Its spokesman simply pushed the matter back to Malaysia as the party responsible for investigating and stopping the problem. The argument is that the body issues the cards according to specific guidelines. If criminals exploit the situation, then, the authorities must put a stop to the issue. But, how will Immigration and police personnel identify the fake cards when they are as good as the genuine item? Furthermore, the intransigence of UNHCR in refusing to share data on those issued with genuine refugee cards makes the job of apprehending those with fake cards difficult, if not near impossible. And, the minister responsible in the Prime Minister’s Department is none too pleased.

 He is demanding that UNHCR act with greater discretion in the issuance of the cards. There is also an indication that the issuance of fake cards is an inside job or involves someone with connections on the inside, as every fake card issued bears the name of a legitimate refugee listed by UNHCR. This further complicates the work to be done by police and Immigration. Therefore, without the cooperation of the UNHCR office, the authorities are forced to take an aggressive approach. After all, it is the country that is being unfairly accused of human trafficking, when it is obvious that criminal elements are exploiting every weak link that exists.



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Malaysia should demand that all refugee cards issued by UNHCR in Kuala Lumpur be rescinded and returned. A moratorium would be established, rendering the cards meaningless. Genuine refugees would then be issued completely new identification documents. Meanwhile, undocumented aliens would be rounded up and deported. For, to not act firmly is to compromise the country’s security. In the event UNHCR refuses to work with the authorities, it should be told to pack its bags until such time as Malaysia decides to be a signatory to the refugee convention. 

When respect is not given voluntarily, it should be taken by force.

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



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Job prospects for refugees in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: A high-level government committee will meet the stakeholders managing tens of thousands of refugees in the country to discuss the issue of allowing them to gain employment. It is understood that the committee is looking at five areas where foreigners given refugee status by the Malaysian chapter of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) could be employed.



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Those job sectors, deemed by the stakeholders as “appropriate, safe and easily monitored by the authorities”, include the hotel industry. Sources in the committee told the New Straits Times that the estimated 156,000 refugees, largely Rohingya people who were not recognised as foreign workers, could possibly be employed under “a very controlled environment and processes”. It is understood that the committee is looking at reviving a shelved pilot project between, among others, the Human Resources and Home Ministries involving the issuance of special employment permits to the Rohingyas. 

The sources said the committee, comprising representatives from the Home, Human Resources and Foreign Affairs Ministries, as well as the Immigration Department, was also banking on this system to better equip government officers in carrying out effective law enforcement. If the plan goes through and the refugees are allowed to work, law enforcers will be able to weed out the tens of thousands of illegal immigrants carrying fake UNHCR cards. “The problem now is when raids are carried out, the illegal immigrants will brandish their UNHCR cards.



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There is no way the authorities can tell if they are genuine as we do not have access to their database. “But if they are registered as workers under the employment programmes sanctioned by the government, they will need to produce their UNHCR cards and a letter allowing them to work. This is the only way the government can control the refugees sanctioned by UNHCR,” said one of the sources. 

The Home Ministry source said the committee’s work was in the initial stages, and the plan, including its technical and legal aspects, was being studied to determine if it could be feasibly adopted in the country. “The government committee involves all relevant agencies to ensure a collective view and that all checks and balances are in place. “The UNHCR will not be involved as the government has to look into its policies first before deciding on the pilot project. They will come in later,” the source said. Immigration Director-General Datuk Sakib Kusmi said the cabinet had considered allowing UNHCR cardholders to work in the country.



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He told the NST that due processes had to be put in place before the green light was given to allow them to gain employment. Sakib said the authorities must be able to work closely with UNHCR, especially in determining the authenticity of UNHCR cards held by migrants, as fake ones could easily be bought off the streets. “The enforcers need to check the cardholders’ identity and their cards. It is important for the men to be able to determine if the person is a refugee or an illegal immigrant.” On potential employment, he said employers might also be given the right to offer refugees jobs either full-time or part-time. Sakib was all for allowing them employment, saying the refugees were experiencing hardship and would be more than happy to make an honest living here. “It is a better option than just letting them stay and beg for money from the public,” he said. In response to NST’s exclusive report yesterday, headlined “UNHCR Card Scandal”, Sakib said the department only recognised genuine UNHCR cardholders, adding that it was the United Nations’ responsibility to monitor any abuse.



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 He said during operations, Immigration officers would detain all, including those with UNHCR cards, to check for their authenticity. UNHCR, he said, should also take precautions and check on the use of fake cards, many of which shared the details of actual refugees in its database. “The UNHCR card comes in various shapes and forms, so it is difficult to be sure whether a card is original or fake. There are also no safety features on the card, which can be easily forged.” Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan Kassim yesterday blamed UNHCR for issuing cards without consulting the government. He expressed concern over the fake cards and will bring up the issue at today’s cabinet meeting.

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



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Battling UNHCR card fraud

KUALA LUMPUR: Even as the country grapples with the problem of illegal foreigners, it faces another headache in the form of illegal immigrants hiding behind fake United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees cards. Authorities tasked with looking into this problem said not only were they unable to determine the number of those carrying fake UNHCR cards sold by syndicates as an “all-powerful” document, but they also believed the number was much higher than that issued by the office. The problem was worse for authorities working round-the-clock on the ground to smoke out illegal immigrants, now numbering more than two million, for if they nabbed immigrants without valid papers save for the UNHCR cards, they had difficulties verifying the authenticity of the cards.


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There are about 156,000 holders of the card, issued by the Malaysian chapter of the UN body. Federal police Special Branch director Datuk Seri Mohamad Fuzi Harun told the New Straits Times that it went beyond immigrants seeking refuge or economic gains. He said the poorly controlled issuance of the card in the country had put Malaysia at great risk of being infiltrated by, among others, human traffickers, criminals and syndicates, who would enter the country illegally and seek refugee status here. “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. “UNHCR’s number on registered refugees here does not appear to be too high, but when you assess the situation on the ground, the numbers are more than what was declared. “This is the problem that we are facing,” he said adding that police were also up against syndicates running lucrative fake UNHCR card businesses. Fuzi said, on their part, the police had lodged reports about fake UNHCR cards to the commission so it could take action to plug the weaknesses that had led to the abuse of the system.


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 Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Noor Rashid Ibrahim told the NST that syndicates targeting migrants without valid papers were encouraging illegal entries with the promise of forged documents and fake cards, which they promised would shield them from the country’s laws. “These syndicates are basically promoting Malaysia as a safe haven to illegals. “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. “We are looking at all possibilities in arresting this problem,” he said. Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said the problem was becoming serious, now that the authorities had been reminded against trusting the authenticity of UNHCR cards when the documents were shown to them by migrants. 

He said the authorities had reason to believe that those holding fake cards outnumbered genuine cardholders. “We cannot trust the number provided by UNHCR because we know there are many illegal immigrants using fake cards. “We are also not able to determine if UNHCR has been handing out the cards to refugees in the first place. “Many are taking advantage of the existence of the card.



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The authorities are grappling to trace the more than two million illegals in the country. Where are they staying?” he said, adding that UNHCR was playing a surrogate role in the country to register refugees who had found their way here and to relocate them to a third country within three months. Jazlan carried out a surprise check on illegal immigrants at a shopping mall in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, last week. His visit was followed by a raid by the Immigration Department, where it picked up several foreigners using fake UNHCR cards.

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

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

German cops bust people-smuggling ring through Malaysia

German police have arrested 17 suspected members of a people-smuggling ring in raids in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony and Baden-Wuerttemberg. ― File pic

Nov 5 ― German police yesterday broke up an international ring of people smugglers whose members used falsified documents to bring foreigners into Germany, mainly by air, for a fee of up to €10,000 (RM46,612) per person.

A police statement said that 17 suspected members of the ring had been arrested in raids in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony and Baden-Wuerttemberg.

The ring provided foreign nationals, mostly Syrians and Lebanese, with falsified documents such as residency permits and travel documents.

The smugglers came to the attention of the authorities after several people making their way to Germany through Malaysia on falsified documents were arrested at Kuala Lumpur airport, which was used by the criminal ring as a transit port.

A 10-member Lebanese family travelling to Germany on false documents via Kuala Lumpur was arrested. The family was allowed to continue its journey to Germany on humanitarian grounds after it contacted the UN refugee office and the German embassy in the Malaysian capital.

The main suspect is a 24-year-old man who was arrested in the western city of Essen. Handguns, machetes, swords, laser aimers and passports were found in his possession.

Some 570 law enforcement officials and policemen took part in the operation.

Germany has become the favoured destination for hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing conflicts and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. ― Reuters

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

Syrian refugees and our hypocrisy

Even as we were being so hospitable to the Bosnians, we were disdaining the persecuted Rohingya, thousands of whom continue to live in deplorable conditions in our backyard, recalls Abdar Rahman Koya.

Not really long ago, when I was a little kid, I used to watch the Indian grass cutter at work in our lawn.

It seemed easy, I thought, and I decided it must be the perfect well-paying job, because every house with a patch of grass would need the service.

Of course, I soon realised that grass cutting is not the most lucrative career in the world.

Nowadays, having learnt about the cost of living the hard way, I sometimes think of that grass cutter. How much did he sacrifice to send his daughter to private college after she was denied a place in the public university?

And such thoughts translate into a hatred for the system, a system which allows so-called positive discrimination and race-based affirmative action.

Similarly, whenever I see someone talk about equality and humanity in some distant place, invoking verses of the Qur’an, the word hypocrisy looms large in my mind.

A case in point is Malaysia’s recent announcement that it would accept 3,000 refugees from war-torn Syria.

That number, of course, is just about 0.4 per cent of the 800,000 Syrian refugees accepted by Germany.

Suddenly there was a litany of praises for Malaysia’s gesture, and suddenly we hear Islamic exhortations about helping the migrants.

You see, there is something similar about the move to help Syrian refugees and some Muslims’ obsession with repeatedly going to Mecca, spending so much money on airfare and accommodation. And that is this: both go to great lengths, literally, to do “good”.

Instead of pointing out the devils in our midst, we travel thousands of miles to ritually stone the symbolic devil on a barren desert.

Instead of spending money to help families who could not afford a good education for their children, we set aside our money every year going on repetitive holidays in the name of religion.

So is the case in the announcement by Najib Razak in New York, on taking in Syrian refugees.

Instead of quietly and unostentatiously helping our dark-skinned brown neighbours, tens of thousands of whom were knocking on our shores with smelly clothes and empty stomachs (before we were shamed into reluctantly rescuing them from the seas), our prime minister grandly announced to the world, from a pulpit in New York, that we would accept a handful of refugees from Syria, promising them jobs, education and housing, things many in our own country, let alone neighbouring ones, would die for.

We are also unclear on the concept.

Instead of doing a Merkel and reaching out to people who desperately cry for help, we did a Mr Boffo and brought the Unclear on the Concept comic series to life, by treating refugees like a meat shop, sifting through them for professionals and semi-skilled, effectively telling those human beings without proper education or skills to stay in Isis-land (or Assad-land, depending on whom we consider the villain).

In short, we have no clue as to what we are doing, because we are always guided by our biases – religious, racial, skin colour even – not by a moral compass to help humanity.

Indeed, the latest offer by Malaysia to show its international responsibility only shows our hypocrisy about the refugee issue and cluelessness about the concept of humanity.

The elephant in the room is too large to ignore, and it comes in the form of this question: why we jumped to help thousands of Syrians when all this while we were practically showing the middle finger to calls to ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention, the pledge to recognise people who flee war and persecution as refugees who must be helped.

Muslim nation

Another point is our government’s assumption that the Syrian refugees would want to resettle in Malaysia. The reality is probably rather different.

The Syrians, despite sharing religious affinities with many Malaysians, may find their lifestyle culturally and environmentally closer to Europe, no matter how Arab some of us pretend to be.

The Syrians are not seeking a Muslim government to shelter them. Heck, a Muslim nation is probably the last place they want to settle in, considering how they have seen their lands being turned into hell by people who use God’s name to do whatever they please. On the contrary, like any human being, they just need to get on with their lives.

Consider, for example, the case with the Bosnian refugees some years back. We went to great lengths to help them. We brought hundreds of them here, placed many of them at the International Islamic University despite them speaking pidgin English and even built an entire village to house them.

Fast forward a decade, you find only a handful of Bosnians still here – most have moved to the West.

Meanwhile, even as we were being so hospitable to the Bosnians, we were disdaining the persecuted Rohingya, thousands of whom continue to live in deplorable conditions in our backyard.

Many of these Rohingyas were bright young children forced to beg on the streets and resort to crime because we refused to recognise the piece of paper they carried stating that they are refugees.

Our hospitality to Bosnians also came at a time when probably hundreds of migrant workers were languishing in squalid conditions at our immigration camps. Something exposed by the late Irene Fernandez, backed by documented evidence, only to find herself later battling for her own freedom.

It is not strange that a government which does not recognise refugees of their own kind, refugees who are culturally more adept to live in this country, are now going all out offering a lifeline to 3,000 refugees from a different land, who probably do not even wish to resettle here.

Because here is a government that has been vocal about the plight of the Palestinians, when what the latter are suffering is echoed by our own hotchpotch concept of licensed apartheid.

Such is our hypocrisy.

We travel half the world to showcase our humanity.

Every year, in some case twice and thrice a year, we splurge a couple of years’ worth of a labourer’s salary to join a sea of humanity circumambulating the House of God.

And then, we talk about justice and punch the Jalan Ampang air on a hot Friday afternoon.

And while all this is going on, some dark-skinned grass cutter’s daughter is hard at work studying for her school exam, not knowing that one day soon, she too will be refused a place at one of our tax payer-funded public universities.

Source: themalaysianinsider.com

Thailand Must End Its Own Rohingya Atrocity

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This article is part of “Southeast Asia: Refugees in Crisis,” an ongoing series by The Diplomat for summer and fall 2015 featuring exclusive articles from scholars and practitioners tackling Southeast Asia’s ongoing refugee crisis. All articles in the series can be found here.

In May 2015, gruesome mass graves were unearthed in southern Thailand, revealing scores of bodies belonging to mostly Rohingya refugees who had been victimized by human traffickers. The discovery placed Thailand under a global spotlight exactly at the time when the country was seeking to be upgraded by the United States in terms of its handling of human trafficking.

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Seeking to distance itself from any guilt, the ruling regime charged at least 85 persons with complicity in the scandal, including Army General Manas Kongpaen. Thailand also agreed to offer humanitarian assistance to Rohingya refugees and convened a regional conference on Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants, which indirectly blamed Myanmar. Though Myanmar bears primary responsibility for the Rohingya crisis, Thailand’s own deplorable treatment of the Rohingya must immediately come to an end. The fact remains: the line between security officials and human traffickers in Thailand has become increasingly blurred. And Thailand has yet to be held accountable.

The Rohingya are a Muslim people of southwestern Myanmar, though neither Myanmar state authorities nor most Burmese accept their right to legally exist as citizens. The Burmese military practiced ethnic cleansing of Rohingya in 1978, 1992, and 2012-2013. Rohingya have also suffered from violent attacks by Buddhist Burmese nationalists and suffer discrimination throughout Myanmar.

Waves of Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh. But by 2006, Bangladesh was overcrowded with refugees and many Rohingya decided to go to Malaysia instead. Doing so meant transiting through Thailand. Getting through Thai territory by land or water was difficult. First, human traffickers which brought most Rohingya through Thailand, were exploitative. Second, there were numerous health challenges. Third, Thailand’s military has been waging a heightened war against a Malay-Muslim insurgency in far southern Thailand, the very area Rohingya needed to transit to reach Malaysia. Given the insurgency, the mindset of many Thai security officials was hostile toward southern Thai Muslims. It was not difficult to extend that paranoia to the Rohingya, who Thai soldiers feared might join the revolt. Thus, Thai army and navy patrols routinely detained Rohingya refugees and either deported them back to Myanmar or — less frequently — helped their boats on to Malaysia.

Then Malaysia shifted its policy, refusing to register any new Rohingya. Those transiting through Thailand now found themselves stranded there, with others continuing to arrive. In 2008, Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej proposed sending all the Rohingya to a draconian immigration facility on a deserted Thai island. Though the idea was never implemented, the policies Thailand has used are not much better.

Thailand has never signed the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 protocol. As such, the country has no specific international legal responsibility to safeguard refugees or asylum seekers. Nevertheless, Thailand has signed other human rights agreements, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which arguably cover the rights of stateless Rohingya in Thailand. But a lack of enforcement has made these instruments ineffective. This has meant that Thailand has dealt with Rohingya as it sees fit.

Turning a blind eye to any international obligations to respect refugee rights, the Thai military initiated a new “pushing out” policy in which Rohingya, after surviving the harrowing ordeal of reaching Thailand across the sea, were now held on a remote island for two days. Then boatloads of them were towed out to international waters, their engine would be cut, and they would be set adrift with little food or water. The policy — which saw hundreds of Rohingya bodies later wash up on Asian beaches — was meant to deter potential Rohingya refugees from coming to Thailand. The strategy was tasked out to Gen. Manas Kongpaen of the Thai military’s Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC). Manas himself had gained infamy for participating in the massacre of Thai Muslims at Krue-Se mosque in 2004, though a court later acquitted him of any wrongdoing.

Under the Abhisit government, the “push-back” program was suspended, and instead a program of deportation or the indefinite detention of Rohingya was implemented. Whilst not as immediately condemnable as the “push-back” program, it was only facilitated by the Thai police joining forces with human traffickers. Deportation back to Myanmar has only led to imprisonment by Myanmar authorities, escape back into Thailand, or, most commonly, the handing over of Rohingya to human traffickers who smuggle Rohingya to Malaysia. Since most Rohingya could not pay the traffickers, they were forced into human slavery to work off the debt. Such a policy financially benefited local Myanmar security officials and smugglers alike while providing a clandestine solution to the returning Rohingya deportees.

In 2013, a Reuters investigation revealed that Thai police had admitted an official Thai policy of removing Rohingya detainees using a similar alliance between Thai security forces and human traffickers. As the policy was official, it had to have been sanctioned by Thailand’s senior-most security officials on down. It commenced following the 2012-2013 Myanmar state atrocities against Rohingya, which had exacerbated the latest Rohingya exodus abroad, including to Thailand. The strategy amounted to this: Thai authorities sold Rohingya detainees to traffickers who spirited them through a series of savage jungle camps (involving regular beatings and rapes) close to Malaysia, where relatives of the Rohingya had to pay ransom for them. Those who could not be ransomed were sold as slaves, or they died. A related report revealed that the Thai Navy had beaten Rohingya boatpeople and sold them to traffickers.

This relationship between the authorities and the traffickers is officially sanctioned. In light of this, the May 2015 discovery of mass graves finds not only alleged collaboration between Thai security officials and traffickers but instead growing evidence that in several cases the soldiers and traffickers are one and the same. Thus, it appears that the trafficking of Rohingya, for certain Thai security officials, represents not only a way to rid Thailand of detainees considered a security threat but also a means of making profits from refugee misery connected to human smuggling and slavery.

While initial responses by Thailand to the 2015 Rohingya crisis appeared to be positive, Thai security policymakers must answer some probing questions. First, do the mass graves not represent the logical result of Thai security forces’ intentional policy of trafficking Rohingya? Second, how could the Thai state allow Gen. Manas Kongpaen, earlier implicated in the Krue Se massacre, to locally lead ISOC’s Rohingya policy from 2008 until 2015? Third, as the current defense minister is the same as in 2009 — Prawit Wongsuwan — why was he not earlier successful in stopping human rights violations by Thai security officials against Rohingya? Fourth, if such trafficking was an intentional Thai policy, to what extent is Thailand guilty of crimes against humanity?

With global attention focused on Myanmar’s horrendous mistreatment of Rohingya, Thailand’s own human rights violations against them — though occasionally surfacing in public — have persisted as a secret sideshow. That sideshow has perpetuated a brutal system of human trafficking and prevented the Rohingya — currently Southeast Asia’s most brutalized ethnic minority — from reaching political asylum abroad. It is high time for Thai policymakers, with sufficient support from international actors, to either allow Rohingya at least the temporary right to asylum or ethically assist in moving Rohingya on to third countries.