JULY 10 — He waited outside the United Nations agency, yet again, with unwavering hope. His medical card clutched tightly in his palms, the wait continued and treaded along the thought of being perpetual. After five hours of waiting, he falls to the ground and dies of a heart attack: another life lost, another dream bites the dust.
An arduous and tumultuous journey began for Mohammed Amin Bin Sultan Ahmed when he arrived in Malaysia on January 10, 2014. He was a Rohingya refugee, fleeing persecution in Burma, only to face more persecution here in Malaysia.
Mohammed Amin was already turned down ten times by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) despite seeking medical help for a pressing liver problem that he had been facing for eighteen months.
Malaysia has not ratified the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, and therefore doesn’t recognise the rights of asylum seekers and refugees.
The refugees are lumped together with economic migrants. In addition to that would be the fundamental structure of the immigration laws that states that any undocumented migrant is ‘illegal’ under the immigration act, and hence, subject to deportation, arrests, and imprisonment.
Lilianne Fan who is the head of Geutanyoe Foundation as well as a specialist in conflict and sectarian violence in Myanmar’s transition, regional organisations and humanitarian action in Asia says that “currently, globally we are facing the worst displacement crisis in history since the end of World War 2.
So we have the highest number of displaced people. Last year the numbers were something like 65 million displaced people worldwide which includes refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced people”.
Hassan is an eighteen-year-old refugee from Myanmar with vibrant dreams. He told his story in vivid details: the struggles faced by his people. His eyes shone with hope and every bristle of colour held a myriad of unimaginable stories.
His voice faltered, like rust making it brittle, as he said, “I came here by boat and the condition was so bad.
There were 380 people crammed together. After about one month and fifteen days we changed the boat at the Andaman Sea. I saw horrible things. One guy was killed by the Thai trafficker. They shot him in front of all of us because they asked us to be quiet and he was very thirsty and asked for some water”.
Hassan has stood outside the UNHCR office five times, just like Mohammed Amin. But for different reasons.
He needs the refugee card from the UN organisation to prevent harassment from Malaysian police and immigration. He is yet to receive his card.
Officers at the agency haven’t furnished him with reasons for the delay. It is rather normal for a refugee to endure a wait of up to two years or more to receive a UNHCR card that allows them to circumvent harassment.
UNHCR’s 2013 annual report states “Malaysian law makes no distinction between refugees and undocumented migrants. There are some four million migrants in the country, approximately two million of whom are undocumented and considered illegal.
Refugees are vulnerable to arrest for immigration offences, and may be subjected to detention, prosecution and punishment, including whipping and deportation.
National non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have limited capacity to support asylum-seekers and refugees, while the international ones face significant difficulties in operating in the country.”
The refugee communities have developed a sense of distrust towards the UN body due to the struggles they face everyday. There is a pivotal lack in ground work from the UN to actually engage and interact with the people from the community.
The refugees feel their interests have not been represented. This has allowed for a deep disconnect between the people and UNHCR.
The US State Department’s Trafficking-in-Persons (TIP) report released in July this year said that “the more than 150,000 registered refugees and asylum-seekers in Malaysia lack formal status or the ability to obtain legal work permits, leaving them vulnerable to trafficking.”
Many refugees incur large smuggling debts, which traffickers use to subject some refugees to debt bondage.
Children from refugee communities in Peninsular Malaysia are reportedly subjected to forced begging.”
Recent reports in Malay Mail Online have stated that UNHCR is working with the government to produce more secure refugee cards.
In response to this Mahi Ramakrishnan, who is an investigative journalist as well as documentary filmmaker who works closely with the Rohingya refugee community, says “a year back the UNHCR said that they are working with the government to produce more secure cards.
One month ago the government had ordered the UNHCR to stop registering the refugees. The UNHCR insists they have a good working relationship with the government and that there are twenty local NGOs that are endorsed to register refugees on behalf of the UNHCR.
But they refuse to tell us who these NGOs are.
This doesn’t make sense to me and it is very murky as to what the job of the UNHCR is.
If they cannot stand up for their primary function, how will they stand up for the rights of refugees?
* Savita Saravanan is a second-year Mass Communication student at Taylors University.
** This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.
