Myanmar must play big role in resolving Rohingya issue

Malaysia has taken proactive measures with Myanmar via Asean, OIC and the UN, says foreign minister.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia wants Myanmar to play a big role and take concrete action in resolving the Rohingya issue, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said although Malaysia believed in non-interference, the Rohingya issue was serious and had to be addressed together.

“In finding a solution, Malaysia has taken proactive measures with Myanmar via ASEAN, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the United Nations (UN),” he told Abdul Hadi Awang (PAS-Marang) who asked about Malaysia’s stand and measures in addressing the Rohingya issue.

Prime Minister Najib Razak had voiced Malaysia’s concern about the influx of Rohingya refugees and requested Myanmar’s cooperation in addressing the issue during the visit of Myanmar President U Thein Sein to Malaysia in March.

“As a result of the ministerial meeting on May 20, Malaysia and Indonesia agreed to temporarily accommodate some 7,000 Rohingya refugees waiting in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea.”

Anifah said in May, he told his Myanmar counterpart U Wunna Maung Lwin that the country should identify the main cause of the Rohingya refugee problem.

At the multilateral level, Malaysia as the 2015 Asean chair was used as a platform to resolve the Rohingya issue.

“Malaysia will continue to highlight the Rohingya issue on platforms such as Asean, the OIC and the UN and continue close bilateral cooperation with Myanmar and other countries,” he added.

In May, boats carrying 1,158 illegal immigrants believed from Bangladesh and Myanmar, landed in Langkawi, Kedah.

They were detained at the Belantik Immigration Detention Centre in Sik, Kedah.

– BERNAMA

‘Refugees welcome here,’ say Berlin demonstrators

BERLIN: Some 1,800 people took to the streets of Berlin on Saturday to express their solidarity with migrants seeking refuge in Europe and against austerity measures in debt-ridden Greece, local police told AFP.

In a demonstration held on World Refugee Day by German opposition parties Die Linke (The Left) and Gruenen (The Greens), as well as several other leftist groups, protesters chanted: “No frontiers, no nations, stop deportation!”

“Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here,” cried others.

Marching from the bohemian Kreuzberg district to Brandenburg gate, some of the protesters held up flags of Greece and posters bearings slogans supporting Athens, as a critical June 30 deadline in debt talks looms.

Should Greece fail to reach a deal with its international creditors to secure the last tranche of funds from its massive bail-out, it risks a catastrophic crash out of the eurozone.

This “technocratic, cold and neoliberal Europe that is led by Germany is unbearable”, read one poster held up by a demonstrator.

Economic powerhouse Germany is seen by anti-austerity activists as taking uncompromising stances in the debt crises that have hit several European countries.

In Paris, hundreds including undocumented migrants also demonstrated their solidarity with the thousands risking their lives in the Mediterranean, and with Greece, chanting “together, together, against austerity.”

In Rome too, scores of protesters braved the rain and gathered under the slogan “Stop the massacre now” to express solidarity with migrants risking their lives to sail across the Mediterranean Europe on rickety, overcrowded boats.

“We are here to save our Europe, which includes immigrants, refugees and Greece. Europe must belong to everyone, not just to the Germans and the banks,” said Luciano Colletta, a 66-year-old pensioner, who stood along with the other protesters in front of the Colosseum.

Some 100,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean so far this year, most of them landing in Italy, Greece and Malta which all want their EU peers to share more of the burden.

At least 1,800 people have drowned trying to reach Europe by boat this year.

On Friday, EU member states approved plans to launch as early as next week the first phase of a military operation against people smugglers in the Mediterranean.

Human Rights Watch said Friday that most migrants who have reached Europe in recent months come from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Somalia and Syria, among the world’s worst affected states by rights abuses and war.

Also on Friday, activists in Berlin staged a funeral for a Syrian refugee who died in the Mediterranean, plastering the capital with posters proclaiming: “The Dead Are Coming.” -AFP

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

Rohingya are refugees but Bangladeshis are not !

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will waste no time in repatriating about 1,000 Bangladeshi illegal immigrants who came ashore in Langkawi on May 11.

Home Deputy Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said this would be done upon completion of the documentation of the refugees.

He said the other 400 Rohingya refugees who landed with the Bangladeshis would be handed over to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"We will send the illegal Bangladeshis back to their country immediately after the documentation process is completed.

"The 400 Rohingya refugees will be sent to the UNHCR as it is their responsibility, including sending the refugees to third countries," he said when met at the Parliament lobby here Tuesday.

It was reported that about 1,400 Bangladeshis and Rohingya, including women and children, arrived in a boat at Langkawi.

Wan Junaidi described the issue of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar as a serious problem which must be dealt with, by the government of that country and it was not under the jurisdiction of Malaysia or ASEAN.

He said Malaysia was unwilling to allow the presence of illegals to burden the country.

"We are facing the problem of an influx of millions of illegals in the employment sector. This has resulted in the local society facing employment and social problems, and diseases brought by the illegals.

"I am giving a clear signal that illegals are not welcome to this country and the Rohingya refugee problem is Myanmar's problem," he said. - Bernama

Comments : I do agree with Home Deputy Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, The Malaysia and the world the difference between Rohingya and Bangladeshis ! Most Bangladeshis enter Burma illegally and they joined to boat together with Rohingya to Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia !  Rohingya speaks good Burmese but Bangladeshis don't ! I met many Bangladeshis using Fate UNHCR cards and they cliam themselves Rohingya  ! This is not a good fact for Rohingya . 

Malaysia : Only half of 7000 refugees need temporary shelter, UNHCR rep says

Richard Towie speaks during the GMM-Proham roundtable discussion ‘The Asean Humanitarian Crisis in the Seas of Southeast Asia: What are the Durable Solutions?’ in Kuala Lumpur today. — Picture by Choo Choy MayKUALA LUMPUR, May 22 — In an attempt to allay fears that temporarily housing refugees would deplete Malaysia’s resources, the United Nations’ (UN) refugee agency said today that only half of the 7,000 refugees needed shelter.

Richard Towle, a representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said about half of the estimated 7,000 people abandoned by human traffickers are Bangladeshis who were tricked into getting on boats to leave their homes; leaving only the remaining half in need of refugee status protection.

“We are not talking about a tidal wave of people that is going to swamp the resources of any particular country in the region.

“It is not a volume of people that will fundamentally alter the demographics of the country like we’ve seen from Syria into Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey today.

“Those volumes are truly altering at an existentialist way, the composition, features and status of those particular societies and those countries put out their hands wilfully to accept millions of people without complaint,” he said during the GMM-Proham roundtable discussion “The Asean Humanitarian Crisis in the Seas of Southeast Asia: What are the Durable Solutions?” at the GMM office here.

Towle said that although signing the refugee convention can be a symbol, much like a gold star for a chief but he said he preferred that Malaysia did not sign and do the right thing according to its ability.

He stressed the importance of treating refugees and migrants as victims instead of illegal immigrants.

There is also a greater need to clamp down on the human traffickers but this will require high cooperation among the law enforcement in the region.

Of the 150,000 refugees in Malaysia, 93 per cent are from Myanmar and there are probably up to another 40,000 Rohingyas here that are not registered with the UNHCR.

“If you allow people who are going to be here anyway, give them the right to work, you will flush them out of grey economy and they will be more dignified contributors to Malaysia,” Towle said.

So far, about 100 “boat people” have reached Langkawi and are currently being processed by the government.

- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/only-half-of-7000-refugees-need-temporary-shelter-unhcr-rep-says#sthash.N8rD5Vsm.dpuf

Malaysia : In Penang, a display of solidary with refugees

A group of Penang non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and members of the public gathered at Esplanade in George Town this evening to show solidarity for survivors of human trafficking in Malaysia.

There was a candle light vigil, youth lying on the grass covered with sheets playing dead to highlight the suffering and deaths of refugees, song performances and speeches by various leaders highlighting the plight of the oppressed and discriminated foreigners.

James Lochhead of Penang Stop Human Trafficking Campaign said they stood in solidarity with newly-arrived refugees in Malaysia and mourn those who had lost their lives over the years due to abuse and trafficking while they searched for refuge.

"We never want the deaths and trauma to be repeated. The real criminals are the unscrupulous governments and criminal syndicates and a world dominated by big business that put profit far above people.

"Let us call governments and businesses to account, where oppression and exploitation are to be found... let us protect the vulnerable and hunt down and bring to justice human traffickers, people smugglers, criminal syndicates and modern day slavers.

"Let us say to the Myanmar government that it has breached its duties to its citizens and to humanity... Let us say not on our watch and stop the horrors of human trafficking and exploitation of the people," he said to the crowd of more than 30 people.

Last week, thousands of refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh tried to enter Malaysia illegally by sea. Some were caught and detained by the Malaysian immigration while others were pushed back.

Participants at the vigil in Esplanade, George Town, pretending to be Rohingya who died while seeking asylum abroad. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, May 22, 2015.After criticism and pressure, as well as further deliberation with its neighbours, Malaysia and Indonesia agreed to house the refugees for a year until the people were resettled by the international community.

Aliran, Citizens International, Persatuan Sahabat Prihatin Pulau Pinang, Penang Stop Human Trafficking Campaign and Suaram Penang appealed to all parties at all levels, including the state and federal authorities, to treat all the survivors, including those who have newly arrived with respect and humanity.

"As victims of political circumstances, who are fleeing to save their lives and those of their children by seeking the safety of Malaysian shores, they should be met with basic humanitarian principles of refuge and protection.

"Many of those coming off the boats and swimming ashore are Rohingya asylum seekers from Rakhine, Myanmar, who had faced extreme violence and persecution there. 

"Many will have suffered at the hands of human traffickers and other criminals as well. They should not be treated or labelled illegal immigrants or wrongdoers, as they have no choice but to try and find safety until there is lasting peace, without persecution or discrimination, in their homeland," the group said in a joint statement.

The groups also welcomed the initiative taken by the Thai, Indonesian and Malaysian governments to discuss with Myanmar towards resolving the conflict in Rakhine and to tackle the problem of human trafficking and people smuggling.

They said a lasting peaceful solution to the present conflict was crucial for the elimination of the mass exodus of people, which had led to human trafficking over the years.

Participants hold placards advocating for Rohingya refugees. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, May 22, 2015.Solving the problem would also contribute to peace and stability in the region, they said.

"An Asean solution to eliminate human trafficking is urgently needed, to be dealt together with the international community."

With Malaysia being the present chair of Asean and a non-permanent member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, the group said Putrajaya must take the lead in confronting the issues in Myanmar and in the region which have given rise to the present situation.

The group also renewed calls for Putrajaya to ratify the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol and recognise the right of people to seek asylum enshrined in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. – May 22, 2015.

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

Burma military chief claims refugees pretending to be Rohingya to get aid

Min Aung Hlaing says many of the migrants arriving by boat in Malaysia and Indonesia have fled neighbouring Bangladesh and are not Rohingya Muslims

 

A Rohingya woman and a child from Burma are photographed during identification procedures at a newly set up confinement area in Aceh province in Indonesia after hundreds of migrants from Burma and Bangladesh were rescued by Indonesian fishermen off the waters of the province on 20 May. Photograph: Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images

Burma’s military commander-in-chief said some “boat people” landing in Malaysia and Indonesia this month are likely pretending to be Rohingya Muslims to receive UN aid and that many had fled neighbouring Bangladesh, state media reported on Friday.

The remarks are sure to spark concern after the United States lambasted Burma this week for failing to address the cause of the crisis, which observers say stems from the country’s refusal to recognise the Rohingya, an ethnic minority group living in western Burma, as citizens.

Most of the 1.1 million Rohingya are stateless and live in apartheid-like conditions. Almost 140,000 were displaced in deadly clashes with Buddhists in the western state of Rakhine in 2012.

UN agencies have urged regional governments to protect thousands of migrants stranded on boats in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman sea with dwindling supplies.

Hundreds of migrants, including Rohingya from Burma and Bangladeshis fleeing persecution and poverty at home, have been pushed back out to sea by Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia this month. Many now face sickness and possible starvation.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing “hinted that most victims are expected to assume themselves to be Rohingya from Myanmar in the hope of receiving assistance from UNHCR” during a meeting with the US deputy secretary of state, Antony Blinken, on Thursday, the state-backed Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported.

He cited reports that the “boat victims” were from Bangladesh.

“He stressed the need to investigate their country of origin rather than to accuse a country,” the newspaper reported.

Blinken had stressed the need for Burma to address the causes of the migration, “including the racially and religiously motivated discrimination and violence“.

Many Rohingya have long complained of state-sanctioned discrimination in Burma and are denied citizenship. Burma denies discriminating against the group and has said it is not the source of the problem.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Thursday pledged assistance and ordered the navy to rescue thousands adrift at sea, and a Thai official said Myanmar had agreed to attend an emergency conference on the crisis.

Malaysia and Indonesia have also said they would let as many as 7,000 migrants on the seas now to come ashore temporarily, but no more.

Both countries have also said that temporary shelters would be set up to house the migrants, but Thailand, a traditional transit point for those trying to reach Malaysia for work, said it would not follow suit.

Myanmar Navy Rescues More Than 200 Boat People

Myanmar will house more than 200 boat people its navy rescued off its shores on Friday in a village in the western part of the country, as authorities work to determine the refugees’ nationalities, according to local officials.

The navy found two boats, one with passengers and another nearly empty but containing some food, said Shwe Than, a police officer in Rakhine state where the refuges are being kept.

“So far, most of the ones we have checked are from Bangladesh,” he told RFA’s Myanmar Service. “They said the Bangladeshi navy found them and tried to arrest them. They entered Myanmar’s sea territory while they were running to avoid arrest by the Bangladeshi navy.”

The rescued refugees were taken to an Islamic school in Maungdaw district where immigration officials and border police are determining their status, he said, adding that human traffickers planned to send the migrants to Malaysia.

The refugees—mostly men in their 20s and 30s who appeared weak—said they had been at sea for two months with limited food as they were headed to Malaysia to find work, Shwe Than said, adding that some of them did not speak Burmese.

“We still need to check where they are exactly from,” he said. “Whenever we have found several boats in this area during the last few years, they all have been from Bangladesh.”

In addition to the more than 200 refugees, 17 boat hands were on board along with two others who appeared to be human traffickers, Shwe Than said. It was not clear what authorities had done with those 19 people.

Maung Maung Ohn, chief minister of Rakhine state and Vjay Nambiar, United Nations Secretary General's special adviser on Myanmar, will visit the boat people on Saturday, he said.

The Rakhine state government has provided the refugees with 100 boxes of noodles and 50 bags of rice and already arranged places for them in refugee camps, Maung Maung Ohn told RFA.

“We are collaborating with the United Nations and international NGOs to assist them,” he said, adding that only four or five of the refugees appeared to be from Rakhine state, where most of Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya live.

Of the Bangladeshis among the refugees, he said: “We have to send them back to their country. We will work on it together with the government of their own country."

‘Pretending to be Rohingya’

The rescue of the boat people came following a comment by Myanmar’s military chief General Min Aung Hlaing that some of the boat people who recently landed in Malaysia and Indonesia were pretending to be Rohingya so they could get U.N. aid.

It also came a day after a top U.S. diplomat had urged President Thein Sein to stem the crisis by helping the thousands of persecuted Rohingya who have fled Rakhine state and are still stuck at sea.

Myanmar’s government refers to the 1.1 million Rohingya who live there as “Bengali” because it views them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, although many have lived in the country for generations.

The U.N. estimates that 130,000 ethnic Rohingya have fled Myanmar by sea since a violent and deadly clash with majority Buddhists in mid-2012. Others, who were displaced by the violence, remain housed in camps in Myanmar.

Those who have fled by sea have fell victim to human trafficking in the Bay of the Bengal after paying smugglers to transport them to other countries, only to be intercepted by traffickers who have held them captive and demanded ransom for their continued passage.

“We don’t accept what other countries have accused us of such as that we have discriminated against and ignored Muslim refugees in our country,” Maung Maung Ohn said. “Some even have said we are committing genocide.

“We have even helped refugees from other countries, and we are doing our best for them. I have brought all international representatives to Muslim camps in Rakhine state to show them how we have been taking care of these refugees."

Reported by San Maw Aung and Zin Mar Win for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated b y Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

Malaysia says it will turn away migrants stranded at sea unless boats are sinking

In the last three years, attacks by Buddhist mobs have left 280 people dead and forced 140,000 others from their homes. They now live under apartheid-like conditions in crowded camps just outside the Rakhine state capital, Sittwe.

A crisis involving boatloads of Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants stranded at sea has deepened as Malaysia said it would turn away any more of the vessels unless they were sinking.

The waters around Malaysia’s Langkawi island – where several crowded, wooden vessels have landed in recent days carrying more than 1,000 men, women and children – would be patrolled 24 hours a day by eight ships, said Tan Kok Kwee, first admiral of Malaysia’s maritime enforcement agency.

“We won’t let any foreign boats come in,” Tan said on Tuesday. If the boats are sinking, they would rescue them, but if the boat are found to be seaworthy, the agency will provide “provisions and send them away”, he said.

Fears up to 6,000 asylum seekers are trapped at sea off south-east Asia

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South-east Asia is in the grips of a spiralling humanitarian crisis as boats packed with Rohingya and Bangladeshis are being washed ashore, some after being stranded at sea for more than two months. 

As many as 6,000 asylum seekers are feared to be trapped at sea in crowded, wooden boats, and activists warn of potentially dangerous conditions as food and clean water runs low.

The crisis appears to have been triggered by a regional crackdown on human traffickers, who have refused to take people to shore. It reached a tipping point this weekend, when some captains and smugglers abandoned their ships, leaving migrants to fend for themselves.

One boat sent out a distress signal, with migrants saying they had been without food and water for three days, according to Chris Lewa, director of the nonprofit Arakan Project, who spoke by phone to people on the boat.

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“They asked to be urgently rescued,” she said, adding there were an estimated 350 people on board, and that they had no fuel.

In the last three days, the 1,158 people landed on Langkawi island, according to Malaysian authorities, and 600 others in Indonesia’s westernmost province of Aceh. With thousands more believed to be trapped in vessels at sea, that number is expected to climb, said Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division. Malaysia’s announcement comes a day after Indonesia also turned back a ship, giving those on board rice, noodles, water and directions to go to Malaysia.

The migrants aboard the boat that sent a distress signal described an approaching white vessel with flashing lights while she was on the phone, Lewa said. One minute they were cheering because they thought they were about to get help, she said, and the next they were screaming as the boat moved away.

“I can hear the children crying, I can hear them crying,” she said.

Lewa has tracked about 6,000 Rohingya and Bangladeshis who have boarded large and small trafficking boats in the region in recent months, but have yet to disembark. Based on her information, she believes the migrants and the boats are still in the Malacca strait and nearby international waters.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the US, Australia and other governments and international organisations, meanwhile, have held a string of emergency meetings to discuss possible next steps.

They are worried about deaths, but also the looming refugee problem. In the past, most countries have been unwilling to accept Rohingya, a Muslim minority fromBurma who are effectively stateless. They worry that by opening their doors to a few, they will be unable to stem the flood of poor, uneducated migrants.

Malaysia’s home ministry said in a statement that of the 1,158 people who landed on Sunday on Langkawi island, 486 were Burmese citizens and 672 were Bangladeshis. There were 993 men, 104 women and 61 children.

A government doctor said many survivors were being treated for diarrhea, abdominal pains, dehydration and urination problems.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations – a regional group that brings together all of the main stakeholders, from Burma and Thailand to Indonesia and Malaysia– has a strict stance of non-interference in member affairs.

At annual Asean meetings – the most recent, ironically, on Langkawi – Burma has blocked all discussion about its 1.3 million Rohingya, insisting they are illegal settlers from Bangladesh even though many of their families arrived generations ago.

For most part, member countries have agreed to leave it at that.

Labeled by the UN one of the world’s most persecuted minorities, the Rohingya have for decades suffered from state-sanctioned discrimination in the Buddhist-majority Burma, where they have limited access to education and adequate healthcare.

Malaysia will not sign UN convention on refugees, says minister

KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 — Malaysia does not intend to become a signatory to a United Nations convention on refugees and migrant rights as the country has its hands full dealing with “problems” brought by refugees here, a minister said today.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim told Parliament that Malaysia has been lenient all this while by allowing refugees to eke out a living, but claimed that the situation has gone out of hand.

“Too many problems brought by them (refugees) in Cameron Highlands and Perlis especially because of their rough attitude,” Shahidan said during question time in response to a supplementary question by Dr Mansor Abdul Rahman (BN-Sik).

“On humanitarian grounds, we let them run businesses in pasar malams (night markets), but they are giving problems to locals and we now cannot handle this type of people as our local businesses are also feeling threatened by them.

“Now the most popular restaurant is Thai restaurants,” he added.

Owing to the situation, Shahidan said Putrajaya will not sign the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951) and the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees (1967).

Shahidan said that he has also asked the UN if the organisation intends to stop giving out refugee identification cards.

“Now they are no longer refugees but economic migrants,” he added.

To another supplementary question earlier by Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud (PAS-Kota Raja), who had asked if the government would consider signing the two conventions which would allow migrants and refugees to find jobs, Shahidan said the government’s bigger concern is to address the growing number of unemployed locals.

“In my view, the bigger issue that has to be addressed is how to give jobs to locals who are jobless. Let outsiders be dealt with accordingly.”

He added that Malaysia does not intend to become a signatory to the said conventions as the government would be unable to execute its necessary duty pertaining to refugee issues.

“If we become a signatory, the implication is that we will encourage more foreign workers to come in as refugees and asylum seekers and this will increase the number of illegal immigrants, foreign labourers and refugees.

“Malaysia will also become a transit for refugees because of our strategic geographical position,” he said, adding that this will also give rise to socio-economic problems.

Shahidan said that at present, there are 151,838 refugees and asylum seekers in the country.- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com

UNHCR: No refugee status for those who commit crimes

PETALING JAYA — The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) insists that asylum-seekers in Malaysia are screened thoroughly before they are granted the status. 

The UNHCR Kuala Lumpur spokesman Yante Ismail said a detailed interview and investigation would be carried out on the applicant to determine a person’s eligibility for refugee status. 

“The asylum (application) process assesses whether a person is in need of protection and also when required, whether their conduct would exclude them from protection,” she said. 

“Because of the thoroughness that is required, and for high profile and complicated cases, a longer time is needed to process an individual.”

Concern over who were getting the refugee status was raised after it was reported last week that 15 out of 17 Myanmar men detained to assist police investigations into the brutal murders in Penang are UNHCR cardholders who have been resident in Malaysia for up to 14 years. 

Yante said refugee protection was not extended to individuals who have committed serious crimes or acts contrary to the purposes of the United Nations. 

“Given the seriousness of these issues, a close and full examination of all facts would need to be undertaken.”  

She said because investigations were on-going, the commission was unable to comment on the arrests of the Myanmar detainees, including those who have UNCHR cards. 

“If there are allegations of crimes committed in Malaysia by refugees, UNHCR expects that they be given full due process under the law like any individual,” she said. 

“All refugees and asylum-seekers must respect the national laws of the countries in which they seek asylum in.”

Yante said UNHCR has contacted the Malaysian authorities to offer its assistance. 

From March until November, the country has seen an influx of about 6,000 refugees from Myanmar.

As of November,139,200 Myanmar refugees were registered with UNHCR, with 150,460 asylum-seekers from other countries in Malaysia. 

The Myanmar refugees comprise of 50,620 Chins, 40,070 Rohingyas, 12,160 Myanmar Muslims, 7,440 Rakhines and Arakaneses, and other ethnicities.

The other 11,260 refugees from other countries include 4,200 Sri Lankans, 1,200 Pakistanis, 1,120 Somalis, 970 Syrians, 860 Iraqis, 580 Iranians, 450 Palestinians, 390 Afghans, 360 Yemenis and 140 Sudanese.

In March, the total number of Myanmar refugees was 133,070 and the overall total of refugees in Malaysia from other countries was 143,435. 

The UNHCR believed there were about 35,000 unregistered asylum-seekers in the country and UNHCR is progressively working to register them.

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

Refugee status being sold for up to RM3,500 in Malaysia, claims Al-Jazeera reports

KUALA LUMPUR, ― There is an alleged market for securing refugee status through illegitimate means in Malaysia, with United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) cards being sold for thousands of ringgit, according to an Al-Jazeera investigation report.

Steve Chao, senior presenter for Al-Jazeera’s Asian current affairs programme 101 East who carried out a covert investigation claimed refugee communities in the country have paid anything from RM1,700 to RM3,500 for each card, allegedly brokered by UNHCR officials in Malaysia.

“UNHCR’S head Richard Towle says he has heard of such illegal activities, and that if a complaint is brought forward, it is investigated by an independent body out of Geneva,” Chao told Malay Mail Online in an email interview last night.

“Sources inside the UNHCR office in Malaysia tell us that an investigation has been conducted specifically looking at fraudulent activities of UNHCR staff. Towle also confirmed that for a period this year, all resettlement of refugees was suspended in Malaysia due to the investigation into fraudulent practices,” he added.

Chao ― whose exclusive “Malaysia's Unwanted” first aired on the Qatar-based news broadcaster’s channel on Astro earlier this morning ― had gone undercover to visit the immigration detention centre in the national capital, posing as a priest to check on the abysmal conditions that refugees and asylum seekers have to endure.

Chao claimed that aside from the sale of UNHCR cards, there was also fraud involving some 3,000 asylum seekers who allegedly used false identities to jump the queue and gain early interviews with UNHCR staff to determine refugee status.

“About 1,000 of them, we understand have been resettled in countries like the US, Canada and Australia,” he said, while adding that the refugees interviewed knew that UNHCR services were supposed to be free of charge.

Chao said Towle had told him that “he has heard of such illegal activities”, and that resettlement of refugees has been suspended in Malaysia due to investigations into fraudulent practices.

The Malaysian authorities also acknowledged that they were aware of the “scandals” involving UNHCR in the country, urging the refugee agency to be “more transparent” and share information on refugees recognised by the UN, he added.

Contacted separately by Malay Mail Online, UNHCR Malaysia spokesman Yante Ismail said the refugee agency has a “zero tolerance policy” on corruption involving any of their processes or individuals or organisations working with it.

She stressed that they “take allegations of corruption very seriously”, which are investigated thoroughly if proven to have any credible basis and appropriate action taken if proven to be true.

“UNHCR is aware of some allegations of fraud arising from its operation in Malaysia. These are being treated with the seriousness they require under the organisation's rules and procedures,” she told Malay Mail Online in an email interview yesterday.

Yante noted that refugees are constantly reminded that UNHCR services are offered free of charge, and encouraged them to immediately report any allegations of fraud.

Yante added that the UNHCR is saddled with a “large and unregulated” number of refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia, raising numerous challenges in providing them the necessary protection.

“UNHCR is in regular discussions with the Government to see how the protection of refugees can be improved and strengthened.

“(In) particular we believe the protection of refugees is best achieved through closer cooperation between UNHCR and the Government of Malaysia, particularly to find viable alternatives to detention,” Yante said.

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

Stop pretending refugees don’t exist here, Putrajaya told

KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 ― Putrajaya can no longer afford to ignore the rising influx of foreigners seeking refuge in Malaysia and must assume greater responsibility to assist with relief efforts currently undertaken by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as well as NGOs, a DAP lawmaker has said.

Damansara Utama state lawmaker Yeo Bee Yin said that the onus in on the federal government to look into reforming legislation to address the matter, pointing out that its current policy does not recognise the rights of refugees as Malaysia did not sign the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees or the 1967 Protocol.

Refugees coming to Malaysia are usually sent to countries like Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, and the United States for resettlement.

“The 'can’t see can’t hear' system is framed in such a way as if the refugee don’t exist in the country,” Yeo said in a statement here.

“The question now is can Malaysia refugee policy remain status quo in the face of the rising number of refugees? Should we recognise the status of refugee and their rights?

“What cross-boundary solutions should we advocate? How can we get the funding from the international community to help with refugee management in Malaysia?” the Selangor lawmaker asked, adding that the government has a responsibility to ensure that the female refugees are not sexually exploited and that their children are not deprived of a formal education.

Yeo proposed that the government form form a non-partisan refugee committee comprising of representatives from both sides of the political divide, relevant NGOs and international organisations such as UNHCR to discuss ways to reform the current legislative and administrative framework to deal with issues related to refugees.

Yesterday, the Home Ministry classified the over 1,000 Bangladeshis and Rohingya who recently arrived at Langkawi are classified as illegal immigrants because Putrajaya does not recognise any refugees- even if they come from countries in conflict.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the 1,058 nationals from Bangladesh and Myanmar will be held at the Belantik detention centre in Kedah over the next one to three months before they are sent back to their home countries.

“As far as Immigration is concerned, everyone is an immigrant,” Wan Junaidi told Malay Mail Online yesterday.

“We’re not a signatory to the United Nations’ Refugee Convention. We are not recognising anybody coming to our country as refugees; it doesn’t matter if the country is a country of conflict. So we classify them as illegal immigrants,” he added.

Out of the 1,058 migrants, there are 993 men, 104 women and 61 children, according to Wan Junaidi. There are 486 Rohingya and 672 Bangladeshis.

UK news website BBC reported on Monday the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) as saying that the recent discovery of dozens of bodies in a mass grave in south Thailand, believed to be of migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh, has prompted a Thai crackdown that is deterring people smugglers from landing.

BBC said the Bangladeshis and Rohingya, whom the United Nations views as one of the world’s most persecuted minorities, are usually brought by people smugglers to Thailand and detained until they can raise money to continue their journey to Malaysia and beyond.

US news channel Al Jazeera America reported Sunday that some 1,600 Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees have landed in Malaysia and Indonesia, apparently after human traffickers abandoned ship and left them alone.

Langkawi deputy police chief Jamil Ahmed reportedly said that most of the migrants were weak and thin, with one of them saying that they have not eaten for three days.

- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/stop-pretending-refugees-dont-exist-here-putrajaya-told#sthash.QDmGwpSd.dpuf

Refugees are human beings!

In just two days, about two thousand asylum-seekers from Bangladesh and Myanmar, many of whom are Rohingyas, one of the world’s most persecuted minorities, landed in Indonesia and Malaysia. Thousands of them are believed still trapped at sea in crowded boats with limited or no fuel, water and food.

The issue of asylum-seekers and refugees, especially those fleeing from Myanmar is not something new. According to UNHCR, as of end February 2015, there are some 152,570 refugees and asylum-seekers registered with UNHCR in Malaysia – 141,570 are from Myanmar. As Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and does not intend to be one as according to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Shahidan Kassim, refugees are treated as the same as illegal immigrants. They will be arrested and detained and are often subjected to torture and abuse.

Stop producing refugees

As Indonesia and Malaysia now feel ‘burdened’ by the influx of these migrants where Indonesia even irresponsibly and inhumanely turned away a boat “full of people in dire conditions”, it is time for the Asean countries especially Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia to step up the pressure on Myanmar. This problem will certainly not able to be solved unless Myanmar is willing to stop ‘producing’ refugees.

It is time for us to tell Myanmar to stop persecuting the minorities. Myanmar should stop violating and abusing human rights for enough is enough!

Aung San Suu Kyi, speak up!

It is also time for Aung San Suu Kyi who is vying for the post of President of Myanmar to speak up. Being a potential President of Myanmar, who is also a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and who was once a victim of persecution, there is no reason for Aung San Suu Kyi not to speak up. Her silence is deafening.

The Lady should pledge to solve this issue if she and her party come into power. When Aung San Suu Kyi was being persecuted, the whole world stood up for her. And it is now time for her to stand up for her own countrymen especially the minorities who are being persecuted. Once a victim of persecution, The Lady should understand better than anyone else the plights and feelings of those persecuted. Aung San Suu Kyi should use her influence to be the voice of the voiceless and the defender of the defenceless.

Stop persecuting the already persecuted

Malaysia on the other hand should stop persecuting the already persecuted. We should save these refugees who are fleeing from persecution and human rights abuses and give them necessary protection. Refugees are not the same as illegal economic migrants. They are here not to seek for better employment opportunities but to escape persecution and to survive.

Malaysia being the chair of Asean and a member of the United Nations Security Council should lead by example in helping these refugees and upholding human rights. We should not subject them to further abuse and persecution.

Refugees commit no crime. The only ‘wrongs’ that they have committed were probably that they were being born in the wrong country, wrong ethnicity or having and believing the ‘wrong’ religion.

In this 21st century, when we are talking and shouting about our rights and freedom, these refugees are denied the most basic and fundamental rights – the right to life, liberty and to live with dignity.

Human rights are for all human beings. Human rights should be something that all human beings are being entitled, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, religion, sex and status. And even if there is no such thing as ‘human rights’ for all human beings, there should be at least humanity, empathy and love.

Refugees are human beings. They are just like each and every one of us. They are not criminals. They are not terrorists. They are not here to harm us. They are here to survive.

I hope and pray that sanity and humanity will prevail. – May 13, 2015.

* Tan Zhong Yan reads The Malaysian Insider.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

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