Malaysia offers little improvement for Myanmar’s refugees

We’ve all seen the news lately. The Myanmar government junta severely limited human and political rights after demonstrations in the face of opposition from monks in late September. People fled the country, there were refugees.

            Citizens have been fleeing Myanmar to neighboring Thailand and Malaysia for many years since the military junta gained power in 1998. The Chin minority, a group heavily persecuted minority, have fled in large numbers, 2,300 to be exact, to the more prosperous Malaysia. Unfortunately, life hasn’t gotten much better for the refugees who have managed to remain in Malaysia.

            The Chin Human Rights Organization says Chin refugees in Malaysia face harassment, arrest, detention, caning and deportation. Malaysian police regularly arrest Chin asylum seekers for illegal entry.

            Malaysia is home to an estimated 46,000 refugees with little more than 36,000 registered with the H.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which gives them official status.

            The majority of these refugees come from Myanmar- 12,7000 are members of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority and 12,000 are from other Myanmar ethnic groups, such as the Chins.

            The Malaysia government views unregistered refugees as illegal immigrants and will persecute them accordingly. Meanwhile, those in Malaysia hope for a better future in Malaysia and change to come in Myanmar.

Read The Washington Post story.

Europeans jailed in Chad for rescuing orphans?

Seventeen Europeans are being held in Chad under charges of abduction and fraud for trying to fly 103 African “orphans” to France. The accused, members of an Organization called Zoe’s Ark, say the children were orphans from Darfur. But local authorities say some of the children had parents. 

“Maybe they were acting outside of classical methods, but their sole goal was to save children from horror and death,” one of the lawyers, Gilbert Collard, told reporters in N’Djamena.

French President Nicolas Sarkozky increased tensions with Chad’s government and citizens (who engaged in protests shouting “Not in France!”) after saying he intended to bring the accused home.  The president flew to Chad to retrieve three French journalists and four Spanish flight attendants among the 17 accused. But six French citizens remain in Chad, complaining that the charges misrepresent their intentions. They face up to 20 years in jail with hard labor if found guilty in Chad. And, obviously, they would receive lesser sentences if sentenced in Paris.

I believe in following the law and respecting a country’s autonomy. However, there is a much bigger issue: genocide. The international community is not doing enough to stop the genocide occurring in Darfur or to deal with the influx of refugees so individuals are taking matters in their on hands. Twenty years of hard labor for trying to provide a better life for Sudanese children? Something seems amiss.

 

For more, read The Washington Post Article.