Myanmar Refugee Doctor Wins Humanitarian Prize for Clinic in Thailand

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

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

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

It treats more than 75,000 patients a year.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reuters

http://jakartaglobe.id/

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.

UNHCR urged to implement security features on its cards

JITRA, March 20 — The Home Ministry has urged the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to implement security features on its cards.

The ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Seri Alwi Ibrahim said, it was necessary to prevent UNHCR cards from being forged arbitrarily by immigrants and those claiming to be refugees.

“We at the ministry have the Immigration Department conducting constant enforcement together with the police to check whether their documents are genuine or not.

“But as of recently, there is the issue of refugees using forged UNHCR cards. So we will be working with the UNHCR to determine whether the cards are genuine or not, he told reporters after officiating at the Distinguished Service Award Ceremony of Malaysian Prisons Department North Zone 1, here today.

He was responding to media reports regarding the misuse of UNHCR cards, by using forged cards, to get jobs in the country.

In the meantime, Alwi said the dependence on foreign workers may be reduced by training and developing skills and aptitudes of prison inmates in various fields. This will help fill the void in manufacturing, agriculture and other employment sectors.

“Some 99 per cent of the 21,124 inmates who completed their rehabilitation programme outside prison from 2008 to 2015 managed to get jobs and last year’s statistics show that only 0.34 per cent went back to crime,” he said. — Bernama

     style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px"

     data-ad-client="ca-pub-3556099351069683"

     data-ad-slot="8098205636">

UNHCR needs to review and revise its card issuance programme — Khen Han Ming 

MARCH 21 — The latest media exposé on forged UNHCR cards in Malaysia is nothing new, as issues and concerns pertaining to the forgery of UN refugee cards are also prevalent in many other countries outside Malaysia.

This, however, sheds some light into a dark realm of gross neglect and blatant disregard for the existing loopholes in the system that has been for umpteen times abused and exploited with possible involvement of corruption which has yield its toll on the problem which could be managed in a more proactive and systematic manner.

For one, genuine personal data of refugees are being leaked to syndicates by irresponsible parties and this enabled multiple cloning of bona-fide identities which could be traced back to the database.

It is a major concern in the security community that the forged refugee identity cards could pose a serious threat to both domestic and national security as the modus operandi in the black market seems to show a severe lack of integrity and control in the entire system.

We need to consider the numerous risks involved, from different angles of criminal activities, subversion to terrorism which is equally detrimental to the personal safety of the actual data owner themselves due to the mass exploitation of their personal details for use by syndicates in reproduction of these forged refugee cards.

     style="display:block"

     data-ad-client="ca-pub-3556099351069683"

     data-ad-slot="3993809633"

     data-ad-format="auto">

The Malaysian authorities, on the other hand, should consider a more proactive approach in managing this issue.

Being a non-signatory member of the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention, it is the prerogative of the government to stand firm on urging the UNHCR to enhance the card’s security features and possibly conduct a crackdown to weed out illegal immigrants and pressure the world body to review and revise its card issuance programme.

The UNHCR should review its entire database against the total number of cards issued, which should be jointly collaborated with Home Ministry in order to enable an integrated database for reference and conduct of due diligence checks and records available for lookup by the authorities.

After all, we’ve been hearing about all the aggressive policing measures to safeguard our country’s state of security, which include measures on documenting illegal immigrants and foreign workers. Why should fake refugees and asylum seekers be exempted from this process and treated with full immunity at the end of the day?

* Khen Han Ming is principal consultant at JK Associates.

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

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

     style="display:block"

     data-ad-client="ca-pub-3556099351069683"

     data-ad-slot="4231788833"

     data-ad-format="auto">

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.



     style="display:block"
     data-ad-client="ca-pub-3556099351069683"
     data-ad-slot="2755055637"
     data-ad-format="auto">

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.



     style="display:block"
     data-ad-client="ca-pub-3556099351069683"
     data-ad-slot="5708522030"
     data-ad-format="auto">

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.



     style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px"
     data-ad-client="ca-pub-3556099351069683"
     data-ad-slot="8098205636">

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.



     style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px"
     data-ad-client="ca-pub-3556099351069683"
     data-ad-slot="9732634436">

 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



     style="display:block"
     data-ad-client="ca-pub-3556099351069683"
     data-ad-slot="2375109235"
     data-ad-format="auto">

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

Refugees watch election with interest, trepidation

Outside of Nai Soi village in northern Thailand, more than 14,000 refugees from Kayah State debate elections going on just across the border. While there will be no voting for those in Thailand’s largest refugee camp – most lack ID cards – that doesn’t mean they don’t have opinions about the coming polls.

Young Karenni walk in through a refugee camp near Nai Soi village in Thailand. Photo: Carole Oudot / The Myanmar Times

People started settling in the Ban Mai Nai Soi refugee camp in 1992 and it was officially opened in 1996, according to the Karenni Refugee Committee. Most of the camp residents fled Kayah State due to clashes between the Tatmadaw and ethnic armed groups fighting for independence. The Karenni National Progressive Party signed its second ceasefire agreement with the government in 2012. The first, signed in 1994, collapsed after less than three months.

“I was born in Shadaw township and I came to the camp with my family 20 years ago,” said Ko Su Reh, 22, “The fighting between the Burmese and the Karenni armies forced us to move from place to place.”

His story is common among the refugees, who were uprooted, often multiple times, due to intense conflict. Many of the younger refugees have spent their whole life at the camp, knowing only a 5-kilometre perimeter around Nai Soi.

Trusting the Myanmar government doesn’t come naturally here. The refugees expect and hope that the ruling party will be defeated in the polls by the National League for Democracy, but they don’t anticipate their troubles will be over after an opposition victory.

Most fear that if NLD wins and the political situation in Myanmar is stable, their camp will be shuttered, and they will be forced back into a country they associate with violence and hardship.

“I think if the NLD wins, good changes will come, but it will take a long time before they have consequences in Kayah State,” said Ko Than Tun Oo, 20, who joined the refugee camp in 2011.

He added that before the refugees are funnelled back into Kayah State, they want to see a plan to ensure their well-being and livelihoods agreed to by the local administration. Most of all, Ko Than Tun Oo said, they demand a national ceasefire and genuine peace to be in place before they are repatriated.

“In July, the UNHCR presented their resettlement operation plan, but we think it is too soon [to return],” said Ko Luiz Martin, secretary of the KRC. “A lot of people panicked. The Thai government said the refugees will not be forced to leave, but that within two years, we will have to be gone. U Aung Min from the Myanmar Peace Center also said Myanmar was ready to welcome back the refugees.”

But as clashes continue to flare in Myanmar, the credibility of the ceasefire agreement, which will not be signed by all armed ethnic groups, remains in doubt. Given the fleeting agreements made in the past, many of the residents do not store much faith in the latest peace deal.

Returning is also difficult to conceptualise for those who no longer have a home to go back to.

“In the camp, it’s hard – everyone is struggling for survival. But what will we do if we go back?” said Ko Anthony, 30. He fled Myanmar in 2010, afraid to be arrested after campaigning against the 2008 constitutional referendum. Fear of political persecution upon being repatriated is also common among the refugees.

“Most of the refugees are accused of having connections with armed groups branded as unlawful. They fear they could be arrested if they go back home. Since most of the people here come from eastern Kayah State, devastated by the civil war, their villages don’t exist anymore. There are still landmines and the threat of land-grabs,” said Ko Luiz Martin.

Increasingly, however, Thailand appears to be playing a resentful host. In 2005, Thailand stopped officially registering and admitting new refugees to the camps. While waves of unofficial entries have continued, the newer arrivals have no status, no identification, and cannot officially seek asylum or apply for resettlement. They also cannot obtain official employment, and without the protection of any recognised status are vulnerable to exploitation.

“We feel like birds trapped in a cage,” said Ko Neh Reh. “A lot of young people, fed up with their limbo situation, dropped out from school. Violence and alcohol abuse are increasing in the camp.”

Meanwhile, living standards deteriorate every year. The food rations provided by supporting NGOs are never enough to match the rising refugee population and donor interest has waned. This month, the refugees will only get 9 kilograms (20 pounds) of rice per person, compared to the 20kg a head provided in the 1990s.

“Rations have declined because of donors’ change of interest. Since 2012, their new strategy is to focus on the development inside Myanmar. The camp is growing, but increasingly, it is forgotten,” said Ko Luiz Martin.

He added that to supplement their food, around 15 percent of the refugees work illegally in the nearby Thai farms. If they are caught by immigration officials, they could be deported and charged for illegal entry. At least for now, Thai authorities have mostly appeared willing to look the other way, but no one knows how long that leniency will continue, and whether the results of the elections will end it.

New Plymouth woman shaves her head to raise funds for Burmese refugees

Robert Charles/Fairfax NZ

Kareen Hillenaar gets her head shaved by her boss Lou Smith on Sunday to raise money to travel to Thailand to work with Burmese refugees.

New Plymouth's Kareen Hillenaar had an unexpected advantage when she had her head shaved on Sunday.

The 29-year-old planned to cut off her shoulder length locks to raise money to travel to Thailand where she will work with refugees, however after receiving a gash to her head while surfing at Fitzroy on Friday the job was partially done so eight stitches could be put in.

"They are still pretty fresh," she said.

Hillenaar, who has a Masters in Art and Design, leaves for Thailand on Saturday where she will work with Burmese refugees for three months.

"I want to explore the craft traditions that they bring with them from Burma.

"As part of my post graduate work I was trying to find a way to work in fashion with an ethical approach."

Hillenaar started working with refugees while studying in Auckland and had travelled to India for a month.

"It is pretty effective to go to the places where the refugees are from," she said.

Hillenaar said deciding to shave her head was a last minute thing to raise money to pay the Burmese women she would be working with.

"I don't know it just seemed like a good idea at the time.


"I feel quite excited about it actually," Hillenaar said before the cutting began.

She had a nervous smile on her face as her boss Lou Smith got to work with the clippers.

"I've got 19 years experience as a hairdresser but I haven't done it for a while," Smith said.

A small crowd of family and friends gathered outside the Piccolo Morso Milkbar for the event.

Smith took extra care around Hillenaar's head wound and in a short time had shaved her head.

"Apparently it suits me," Hillenaar said as she checked out her new do it a shop window.

Her mother Carole said she was not concerned about her daughter heading overseas.

"She has done a lot of travelling and working with people over the years," she said.

"I think it is a great cause, I'm more than supportive."

Hillenaar said she had been overwhelmed by the support she had received for her trip, with someone donating $1000 last week.

Anybody wanting to make a donation towards Hillenaar's trip can do so at 

http://www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/headshave2fundraise.

Myanmar migrants in M’sia tell their stories

By EngageMedia

Fleeing from prolonged conflict and persecution in Myanmar, hundreds of thousands of ethnic minorities find themselves living as refugees in neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia. In Malaysia alone, there are an estimated 150,000 refugees from Myanmar, with possibly a third of them not registered with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

In 2013, to highlight their stories and those of other migrant communities, EngageMedia began collaborating with Citizen Journalists Malaysia (CJMY) on Crossroads, an advocacy video project to teach migrant rights activists video production and distribution skills.

‘In Search of Shelter’ is part of the collection of 12 videos that were produced, and highlights the plight of the Myanmar refugee community in Malaysia.

In the video, asylum seekers share how they have united and combined resources to establish access to basic services like health clinics and primary schools for their children. However, they also face many hurdles related to the difficulties in getting registered as refugees with the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) in Malaysia, such as how many of the teachers in the schools they set up are themselves arrested by the police due to their lack of legal status.

Malaysia, which has stated that it will not sign the United Nations convention on refugees, also does not have any legal framework for national asylum and does not distinguish between refugees and undocumented migrants, leaving refugees at constant risk of detention, deportation and abuse. An undercover investigation by Al-Jazeera in 2014 revealed that some refugees pay up to $1,000 for official refugee status in Malaysia, as part of an illegal trade allegedly involving the UN Refugee Agency itself.

At one of the community screenings of Crossroads we held in Malaysia, we found that 80 to 90 per cent of those present have had personal experiences of being harassed by the police or faced problems with permits and employers. One member of the audience pointed out that there had been incidences where even if they produced their registered refugee card or supporting letter, the document was simply torn up by the authorities that had approached them.

With continued reports of acts of injustice and exploitation committed against refugees in Malaysia, it remains to be seen how its government and the UNCHR will effectively address this grave and growing situation.

EngageMedia

With a firm belief in freedom of expression and without prejudice, FMT tries its best to share reliable content from third parties. Such articles are strictly the writer’s personal opinion. FMT does not necessarily endorse the views or opinions given by any third party content provider.

UNHCR – Straight-Talking on Refugees

Mr. Iain Hall, the senior field coordinator for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees based in the Thai border town of Mae Sot gave an exclusive interview to Karen News.

In the exclusive interview, Mr Hall covers a wide range of issues affecting refugees including repatriation, international humanitarian guidelines, the Burmese government’s responsibilities to protect its citizens and the UHNGR’s working relation with the Thai government on refugees issues.

What does voluntary repatriation mean?

“The word ‘voluntary’ is in the title meaning that return must be of a voluntary nature of the refugees themselves, as an individual decision. So voluntary repatriation is the voluntary return home to their place of origin inside Myanmar or, as Myanmar citizen, the place of their choice.

Voluntary is the most important principle on the concept. Providing information to refugees will help them in making a well-informed decision, and this is crucial. Because there are always pressures in life, it is important that refugee make well-informed decisions based on accurate information, not inaccurate propaganda, then we feel that refugees are able to make their voluntary decision themselves – and not having others making decisions for them.

What are the guidelines?

“Voluntary repatriation is what we call a durable solution, while there may be other solutions that a refugee may find in the future. Another would be a local integration in the country of asylum on a legal basis; or another solution may be resettlement to a third country. In Thailand there has been a very large resettlement of the Myanmar refugees to date, more than 90,000 since 2006.

The guidelines for voluntary repatriation talk about the humanitarian principles associated with refugees return to their country of origin. The first principle being voluntary. Other principles include that their return will be conducted in safety and with dignity. Safety of course will be the assurances that on the route back home and in areas of return are safe. Sustainable return is not possible if armed conflict in that specific area of return is taking place. They are not going to have to cross minefields to get back to the place of their choosing. So that’s the safety element. Then of course there is the dignity. The dignity because when people go back they are citizens of their country and they should be afforded all the rights of a normal citizen, in this case as Myanmar citizens. So they should be able to have access to all normal services that one would expect in one’s country – we call that, if you will, national protection. So for example, they will be able to access documentation, health and education services. And that they are not seen as another level of society but as part of normal society. So dignity is a most important thing.

Need various players to take their responsibilities seriously? 

“Yes, yes. Well of course the Myanmar Government (the country of origin in any conflict situation where we have a refugee out flux). The country of origin, in this case Myanmar, has the primary, responsibility of the protection of its citizens and indeed all civilians on its territory. Just as I and you enjoy the protection of the Royal Thai Government for our safety and security. They [Myanmar Government] hold a responsibility … the primary responsibility. So ensuring the conditions for sustainable return will be the Myanmar Government. But of course they may need support.

“Well founded principles since the creation and the mandate of UNHCR and the Statute of the Office, and international refugee law and the 1951 Refugee Convention. So those principles are enshrined within that international refugee law.”

Situation in Thailand right now – it has stressed it will follow international guidelines. 

“Yes you know the international community, certainly UNHCR, the NGO’s, the refugee committees, the CBO’s, and the donor community, have all been working with the Royal Thai Government for 30 years now. RTG has been protecting and assisting refugees during this 30 years and they continue to do that today until their solution can be found, including if that solution is a voluntary return, if its staying within Thailand, or if its resettlement to a third country. Now that is not a new discussion. The discussion on return has taken place over the the last few years. Because of the changes taking place inside Myanmar As we saw in 2010 and the movement towards a civilian-led government. 2011, with President Thein Sein in power. 2012 we saw temporary ceasefires with main non-state actors, the conflict with the government, the KNU, the KNPP and others. There have been 12 temporary ceasefires signed in the last two years. Other reforms taking place inside the country democratic reform, social and economic reform. Those are the signs that allow people to talk about the possibility of return including the refugees themselves. When I arrived here in 2012, there was a discussion then within the humanitarian community, but not between the two governments, mostly within the humanitarian community about hopes and preparedness for voluntary return. That was like the discussions in 2004 when there was also hope; but of course it didn’t take place. But now in the last few years there has been lot of discussion within the humanitarian community about so called preparedness for return. And most recently we have seen from a meeting between the Royal Thai Government and the Government of Myanmar a discussion about the future return of refugees back home.” 

There is nothing untoward with Thailand’s position? 

“Not at all. I think we have all been assured and reassured again. Assured for many years and reassured very recently by the Royal Thai Government. Last week RTG, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, put out a press release assuring that refugee return would be in-line with the humanitarian principles, and under the international standards.” 

Do conditions exist now for a return? 

“Conditions for return very much depend on a number of factors such as the first one the voluntary decision to return. So for some, refugees as individuals, may believe the conditions are right for them and are fine for return. We have seen several thousand refugees start to go home. Not very announced, not organised (self-assisted), but they have said for them the conditions are right for return. But for the large majority they may not feel that the time is right. Now for UNHCR when we talk about a return there can be several types of return. There can be a return that could take place spontaneously, the refugees themselves go home without seeking any support to do so. They may not seek assistance from UNHCR or from the humanitarian community. Often they go unannounced and are self-assisted. And then there is a return where people may need support and where UNHCR and other organizations can help that return. For example for transportation, for documentation, for assistance back home with the various types of support that they may need. That environment, at the moment we feel may not be there for UNHCR to promote and organize a return. To have a plan and an organised approach to return. Because we don’t see that the refugees themselves are ready for it. There are some key factors. There is not yet peace, only a temporary ceasefire but negotiations are ongoing on for a permanent ceasefire. That could be a major milestone (a permanent ceasefire) and then there is the rebuilding of refugees’ confidence because we know there’s a lack of confidence in the peace process and uncertain futures. So those conditions would have to be pretty much there for UNHCR to organize and then promote a return of refugees. Return is not UNHCR saying “it is time to go”… we are saying that if you want to go because it is your individual decision, if it’s time for you to go, then we’d like to help you.” 

There is talk of secret deals, of collusion. 

“Yeah, lots of talk, lots of bad press and irresponsible speculation about that. Well, we have this speculation about secret deals and secret planning for the last couple of years and we have been very open and transparent about that at UNHCR as there are no secret deals, there has been no secret planning or decisions. Certainly UNHCR is not sitting down with governments pouring over documents and dates and routes and things like that. We don’t because that’s not the time. It’s not the time for that level of operational planning. And any planning in the context of an organized return – which we are not yet ready to do – would be done in consultation with the refugee community itself. And the last few years we have developed a wide consultation and coordination forum, around preparedness for return which allows all humanitarians to ensure that the concerns and the participation of refugees in any return plan is fully reflected.” 

What’s next?

“What’s next? Well, you know, what’s always next for UNHCR is to try to find the way to help refugees to find a durable solution for them; whatever that solution may be. Some may like to go home. And they may need help as that will be their solution. Some may like to go home but may feel they cannot go. We have to look at those and see how we can help. Together with the RTG and other governments on resettlement as some are still in process and some still want too … and are eligible for resettlement. That program continues – and as I mentioned, more than 90,000 to-date. But the group (large-scale) resettlement has come to an end. But individual resettlement continues. So for us, what next is a continuation of the discussion, certain conditions we cannot put in place, UNHCR cannot put in place, a nationwide ceasefire, UNHCR cannot rebuild every school and health post in the areas of origin and return. So there are a lot of actors that need to do a lot of work to prepare for those types of conditions to make voluntary return conducive as opposed to a pressurized return.”

UNHCR primary concern is the welfare of refugees?

“UNHCR’s primary concern has, and always will be, first and foremost the individual protection and the individual rights of human beings, the rights of refugees, as citizens of Myanmar and, at the moment, under the protection of the country of asylum, which is Thailand. That would be our principle concern, and our ongoing concern would be that those conditions that created the influx, the flight to Thailand as refugees, that those conditions and those issues are resolved. So that people can and are able to make decisions about their future.”

Source : Karen News

Shan groups fear refugee repatriation

Sai Khur Hseng 

Ying Harn Fah 

Shan community groups 

 The Nation 

 Shan community groups are concerned at signs that Myanmar authorities are preparing to repatriate Shan refugees from a camp in northern Thailand, even though there is no guarantee for their safety. Last month, Myanmar police from Tachilek visited Koung Jor camp in Wiang Haeng district, northern Chiang Mai province, asking whether the refugees wanted to return to Myanmar.

 Even though none expressed a desire to return, the camp leader was contacted shortly afterwards by the Myanmar military commander at Mong Taw, 15 kilometres across the border, to say that new housing would be built for returning families in his area. In August 2012, plans by a Norwegian NGO contracted under the Myanmar Peace Support Initiative to survey the Shan refugees about returning to Myanmar were cancelled, after it was publicised that the designated resettlement site at Mong Hta (near Mong Taw) was still an active war zone, strewn with land mines. 

It is unclear if international donors will be supporting the latest plans to build housing for returning refugees in the Mong Taw-Mong Hta area. The security situation in this border area has not improved since last year. It remains heavily militarised, especially following increased tension between Myanmar and Wa forces in southern Shan State in recent months. There are currently about 500 refugees, almost half of whom are children, staying in Koung Jor camp, set up in 2002 after fighting on the border between the Myanmar army and the Shan State Army-South.

 It is the only Shan refugee camp in Thailand. Most of the hundreds of thousands displaced by conflict in the Shan State during the past few decades have had no access to refugee camps, and have been forced to survive as migrant workers throughout Thailand. Koung Jor camp has a less formal status than the other nine camps in Thailand, which primarily house Karen and Karenni refugees.

 Shan community groups therefore worry about a higher likelihood of involuntary repatriation. "The Shan refugee crisis has been pushed under the carpet for years," said Ying Harn Fah of the Shan Women's Action Network. "Just because most Shans don't have refugee status, that is no excuse to deny the few recognised Shan refugees the right to a safe return." The Shan groups are demanding that any plans by Myanmar, Thai and international stakeholders to repatriate Shan refugees be fully transparent and guarantee safety and dignity, and that any repatriation must be voluntary. 

 This article was released by the Shan Human Rights Foundation, Shan Sapawa Environmental Organisation, Shan Women's Action Network, Shan Youth Power and Shan Youth Network Group.

In Thailand, a resort for the greater good,and Sex industry

By Jeff Greenwald

 

Alexa Pham's Chai Lai Orchid features typical activities such as hiking and elephant rides but is also a way for girls to avoid falling prey to the sex industry.

MAE WANG, Thailand — As we sat together on a long, narrow raft of bamboo, Alexa Pham dipped her hand into the quickly moving river. "It's the really simple things," she said with a long breath, "that make it beautiful here in Mae Wang."

Two wiry boatmen, steering with long poles, navigated the raft beneath the branches of overhanging trees, around boulders and through bars of late-afternoon sunlight. The men are part of Pham's staff, hired from the hill tribes and Burmese refugee communities of northern Thailand. Though they knew the river, they greeted every bend and rapid with shouts of glee and panic.

Despite their soundtrack, it was a blissful moment. I didn't want it to end, even though the 40-minute ride soon took us back to the riverbank in front of the Chai Lai Orchid, Pham's newly opened resort.

As idyllic as the scene appeared, Pham's work in this hilly, wooded area (an hour's taxi drive south and west of Chiang Mai, Thailand's second-largest city) is anything but simple. Pham, a professional photographer, opened the Chai Lai Orchid in December to help address one of the region's crises: the trafficking of girls and young mothers into Thailand's sex industry.

Pham, 30, divides her time between Asia and Manhattan, where she lives with her husband. She was born in upstate New York and, at 16, ran away from home, crossed the Atlantic and worked, undocumented, in Germany. She earned enough money to return to the U.S. and attend film school in Florida. That career path didn't take.

"I found my passion is more in doing work than documenting it," she said with a shrug.

In 2006, what was meant to be a brief vacation in the hills of Chiang Mai changed her life.

"I came here during the rainy season and saw the way the mist looked on the mountains," she said. "I fell in love with it." Pham already had experience working with at-risk girls in Nepal through the nonprofit Daughters Rising (www.daughtersrising.org). Bringing her values to Thailand seemed an imperative next step.

The Chai Lai Orchid is one of the more unusual resorts in this overgrown part of northern Thailand. Pham and her high-spirited local partner, Puang (foreigners can't own land or businesses alone), have created a small but welcoming retreat that feels more like a home stay than a hotel.

Though it lacks the polish of a high-end resort, its rooms (and traditional thatch-roof "eco-huts") are clean and cozy, with fans, mini-refrigerators and mosquito nets. The Chai Lai features all the signature activities of this popular area: rafting, hiking to hill tribe villages, raft rides and bareback elephant trekking (a full-body tactile experience not to be missed). For about $100, visitors can adopt an elephant and its mahout, or tender, for a full day — learning how to feed, steer and bathe their beast.

But the Chai Lai is a resort with a purpose. It was created to offer hospitality training to local girls, drawn mainly from the refugee communities along this part of the Thailand-Myanmar border, who are at risk of being sold or traded into sex slavery.

Even basic skills such as cooking, waitressing or housekeeping, Pham has seen, can be the difference between work in a legitimate tourist hotel or a brothel.

"Sex trafficking is a huge problem in Thailand, a problem that a lot of Western visitors contribute to," she said. "Many girls who cross the border from Burma [Myanmar] dream of getting jobs in hotels and end up being tricked and trafficked instead. Here at the Chai Lai Orchid, we're giving some of those girls that dream for real."

One highlight of my stay was participating in the evening English classes, which Pham offers at no cost to children from nearby villages. They arrived in their best clothes, on foot or by local transport, and filled the tables at the resort's terrace cafe. Pham (and other recruits, myself included) helped the arrivals with workbook drills and engaged them in basic conversation.

After one class, the mother of a bright young student presented Pham with bananas from her garden. "People give what they can, when they can," she said, as delighted as if she'd been given a case of fine wine.

When I visited, three at-risk women were training at the Chai Lai. Pham's goal is to hire 14. Before one class, I met two of them. Each shared a similar story.

Ann, 23, has a serene, almost Buddha-like nature. Her mother smuggled her from Myanmar into a Thai refugee camp at 6 months old; she now has three children of her own. Lin, 15, is being trained as a cook. Though she looks like a typical teenage girl — with braces that display a tiny pink heart over each tooth — she had a baby recently and barely survived the ordeal.

"Ann and Lin are especially vulnerable because, if they're in a brothel, the owners can threaten to harm their children if they try to leave," Pham said. "So being a young mother is one criteria for accepting girls into our programs." Others include not having access to education, or being an ethnic minority or a refugee without documents.

"I'm not from Burma," Pham continued. "But at 16 I worked as a maid, in a foreign country, without papers. So I can talk with these women even though there's a language barrier. I can understand their struggle with learning a new language, in a new culture, and feeling alone."

As devoted as Pham is to her work, she never brings you down. Her delight with the area is contagious, and staying at the Chai Lai is an uncomplicated pleasure. Visitors are welcome to engage with her work or enjoy the hills, river and jungle on their own terms.

And there's a great deal to enjoy. The morning trumpeting of elephants punctuated the rush of the Mae Wang River, and evening brought the cries of exotic birds and the croaking of river frogs. In between, water-loving guests can join Pham and the mahouts for the afternoon elephant bath — a ritual that inevitably devolves into a gleeful, shrieking splash fight staged on the slippery backs of the well-loved beasts.

Despite the hardships that motivated its creation — or more likely because of them — the Chai Lai is an uplifting destination. Here, the simple things are beautiful — and the complexities lead to rewards of their own.

travel@latimes.com

Aid Workers Call for Millions in Donations for Fire-Ravaged Burma Refugee Camp

Survivors carry aid and belongings salvaged from ruins of the Mae Surin refugee camp near Mae Hong Son on Sunday. (Photo: Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha)

More than 2,300 refugees who became homeless when fire destroyed their shelters in Mae Surin refugee camp, in Thailand’s Mae Hong Son Province, have received immediate assistance but need supplies to rebuild their homes.

The fire that broke out in the isolated refugee camp on Friday destroyed about 400 houses made of bamboo, wood, and roofed with dried leaves, before it was brought under control on Saturday.

On Monday, the Thailand Burma Border Consortium put out a call for 13 million Thai baht (US $444,000) in donations to rebuild the camp.

The blaze—reportedly caused by a cooking accident—killed at least 35 people and injured dozens more.

A Karenni schoolgirl, Eliza, a volunteer delivering aid to the victims, told The Irrawaddy on Monday that some 36 people died in the blaze.

An estimated 400 houses were reduced to ash. The more than 2,000 refugees made homeless are sheltering in accommodation set up by the Thailand Border Consortium and UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Eliza said that the fire spread quickly because it was hot and windy in the camp.

The fire trapped the victims and encircled them.

Located in an isolated region, there are no modern fire extinguishers in the camp. Residents normally use buckets of water and sand to put out any fires.

Vivian Tan, the spokesperson for the UNHCR in Asia, told The Irrawaddy on Monday that her organization has provided immediate assistance, such as blankets and plastic sheeting for temporary shelters to the victims.

“For now, the focus is the immediate assistance. In the medium term, this camp is run by the [Thai] government. So I think the government will probably do some kind of planning of how to rebuild the shelters,” said Vivian Tan.

Mae Surin refugee camp housed about 3,500 refugees who fled from Burmese government military offensives in Karenni State, eastern Burma. Mae Surin is one of nine Burmese refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border.

According to the UNHCR report, a local clinic and distribution center at the camp were also razed in the blaze. With the cooperation of Thai authorities and local camp committee leaders, the International Rescue Committee and International Committee of the Red Cross has also offered assistance for the victims.

Sally Thompson, the director of the Thailand Border Consortium, a humanitarian agency said: “At the moment, they have plastic sheeting, mosquito nets, and mats. The immediate assistance is sufficient. But, they will need assistance for reconstructing [their homes].”

“We will need to provide all construction materials again … everything to reconstruct new houses.

“Before that assistance is provided, the debris in the burnt areas will be cleared where the new buildings will be built,” said Thompson.

According to the Bangkok Post, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra asked the Interior Ministry, the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department and the armed forces to set up an emergency center to ensure sufficient food, drinking water, medicine and clothing will be supplied to the refugees.

Deputy Interior Minister Chatt Kuldiloke and ministry officials also visited the camp on Saturday to oversee the establishment of temporary shelters and the provision of medical treatment.

There are about 150,000 refugees who live in the nine refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border. Most of them are ethnic Karen who fled home due to civil wars in their hometown.

Rescue workers have ended the search for victims of a fire that tore through a Burmese refugee camp in northern Thailand, killing at least 36 people and leaving thousands homeless.

A man walks between body bags of victims of the fire at the Ban Mae Surin refugee camp near Mae Hong Son. Photo: REUTERS

 

By Agence France Presse

Ten children were among those killed in Friday's fire which destroyed Mae Surin camp in Mae Hong Son province, provincial governor Narumol Paravat said.

"The search operation has finished today. Rescue teams found 36 dead, among them were 10 children," she said, adding 13 of the bodies were yet to be identified.

"A police investigation has yet to conclude the cause of the fire."

Desperate refugees chopped bamboo and gathered large leaves from the surrounding jungle to build makeshift shelters as relief trickled in to the remote area, according to witnesses.

The blaze is believed to have destroyed 400 houses and left more than two thousand people homeless at the remote mountainous camp, leaving behind a stark landscape of charred tree stumps and debris. 

The Thai government has pledged an investigation into the fire at the camp, which was set up in 1992 and houses roughly 3,500 refugees.
Ten camps strung out along the Thai-Burma border are home to a total of about 130,000 people, who first began arriving in the 1980s.
Many of the refugees have fled conflict zones in ethnic minority areas of Burma.
After a new quasi-civilian government replaced the long-ruling junta in Burma two years ago, Thailand announced it wanted to shut the border camps, raising concern among their residents.
But so far they have been allowed to stay and the Thai government has stressed that it will only send them back when it is safe to do so.
Many of the refugees are from Burma's eastern Karen state, where a major rebel group, the Karen National Union (KNU) signed a ceasefire deal with the new regime last year after decades of civil war. 

Edited by Chris Irvine, telegraph.co.uk