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.