US Senate beat Malaysia in acting on the 'corruption and refugee' allegations

There are many refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia today - FACT.

These refugees come mainly from Burma (Myanmar), Southern Thailand, Southern Philippines,...

Refugees normally just run for their life and liberty, and this means that many would have not left their country 'legally' or entered Malaysia "legally". Most will not even have passports.

How many refugees are there? Between 100,000 to 400,000...we really do not know.

Malaysia treats many of these refugees as undocumented migrant workers - but really they are not. They are refugees and asylum seekers, and they should be seen as such.

Remember Malaysia has 2.4 million documented migrant workers [and maybe another 3-5 million undocumented migrants]

The problem today is the UNHCR - who only registers refugees, and let them go. Where would they get money for food and board? Where would they stay? With the Vietnamese refugees in the 70s and 80s, there were UNHCR Refugee Camps where the refugees stay until they are sent to a third country...(or until they were sent back to Vietnam...)

UNHCR controls the branding of persons who are refugees - but alas, they too have their prejudices and politics.

I believe that the Malaysian Government should take on the role of giving recognition as refugees/asylum seekers. In fact, State Governments can also do so - maybe Pakatan Rakyat should start...

Of late, over and above the hardships that these migrants suffer - there was news about Malaysian officials involved in asking for money, and if not they will be 'sold' like slaves...Allegations have been made sometime ago - but alas, Malaysia have been slow to act, to investigate, to act against those errant officers, and put a stop to it.

Shame - shame Malaysia - for some US Senate Committee have looked into it before us - and have released a damning report...

It should have been SUHAKAM, some Parliamentary Select Committee, some Commission of Inquiry in Malaysia ....

Malaysia must now look into this and act against the perpetrators ...(but we may be hoping for too much, for Najib just appointed person/s found guilty for 'corruption' or corrupt practice into the UMNO Supreme Council. So serious was the wrong that the Disciplinary Committee did not stop at a stern warning but barred him from contesting for the No.2 post in UMNO.)

Appointed Supreme Council members:

- Datuk Kamilia Ibrahim (Wanita)

- Datuk Razali Ibrahim (Youth)

- Dr Wan Norashikin Wan Nordin (Puteri)

- Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim

- Datuk Seri Nazri Abd Aziz

- Datuk Jamil Khir Baharom

- Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin

- Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam

- Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz

- Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman

- Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim - Star, 24/4/2009, Umno to hold special assembly to amend constitution

So, is Malaysia capable of doing anything with regard to this issue...

WASHINGTON, Apr 23 (IPS) - The mistreatment of Burmese migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in Malaysia is the focus of a report released Thursday by the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

After receiving disturbing reports of trafficking in 2007, committee staff conducted a year-long review of the allegations. The report, "Trafficking and Extortion of Burmese Migrants in Malaysia and Southern Thailand," is based on first person accounts of extortion and trafficking in Malaysia and along the Malaysia-Thailand border. Committee information comes from experiences of Burmese refugees resettled in the United States and other countries.

Many Burmese migrants, escaping extensive human rights abuses perpetrated by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and the Burmese military junta, travel to Malaysia to register with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), for resettlement to a third country, according to the report.

Once in Malaysia, Burmese migrants are often arrested by Malaysian authorities, whether or not they have registered with the UNHCR and have identification papers. Burmese migrants are reportedly taken by Malaysian government personnel from detention facilities to the Malaysia-Thailand border for deportation.

Upon arrival at the Malaysia-Thailand border, human traffickers reportedly take possession of the migrants and issue ransom demands on an individual basis. Migrants state that freedom is possible only once money demands are met. Specific payment procedures are outlined, which reportedly include bank accounts in Kuala Lumpur to which money should be transferred.

It has become commonplace for the authorities to use the vigilante RELA force to periodically arrest and "deport" Rohingyas, a Muslim minority, but since Burma does not recognise them as citizens, the practise is to take them to the Bukit Kayu Hitam area on the Thai-Malaysia border and force them to cross over into Thailand.

Migrants state that those unable to pay are turned over to human peddlers in Thailand, representing a variety of business interests from fishing boats to brothels.

Human rights activists have long charged that immigration, police and other enforcement officials, have been "trading" Rohingyas to human traffickers in Thailand who then pass them on to deep sea fishing trawler operators in the South China Sea.

"People seeking refuge from oppression in Burma are being abused by Malaysian government officials and human traffickers," said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

The committee has received numerous reports of sexual assaults against Burmese women by human traffickers along the border. One non-profit organisation official states that "Most young women deported to the Thai border are sexually abused, even in front of their husbands, by the syndicates, since no one dares to intervene as they would be shot or stabbed to death in the jungle." Women are generally sold into the sex industry.

"(The Burmese refugees) are treated as a commodity and frequently bought and sold and we have been condemning this practise for a long time," Irene Fernandez, executive director of Tenaganita, a non-profit group that protects migrant workers, told IPS in January. "Our demands have always fallen on deaf ears despite the accumulating evidence of the involvement of uniformed officials in the trade."

The report, the first of three, states that Malaysia does not officially recognise refugees, due in part to concern by the government that official recognition of refugees would encourage more people to enter Malaysia, primarily for economic reasons. Also, Malaysian officials view migrants as a threat to Malaysia’s national security.

"Malaysia does not recognise key international agreements on the protection of refugees and foreign nationals. Nor does it apply to foreign migrants the same rights and legal protections given to Malaysian citizens," Fernandez said.

Foreign labor is an integral building block of Malaysia’s upward economic mobility. While Malaysia’s total workforce is 11.3 million, there are approximately 2.1 million legal foreign workers and an additional one million illegal workers, though no accurate information is available.

While Malaysia accepts the presence of Burmese and others from outside of the country for the purpose of contributing to the work force, persons identified as refugees and asylum seekers on their way to a third country are viewed as threats to national security.

In an interview with The New York Times, RELA’s director-general, Zaidon Asmuni, said, "We have no more Communists at the moment, but we are now facing illegal immigrants. As you know, in Malaysia, illegal immigrants are enemy No. 2."

Many of the approximately 40,000 Burmese refugees who have resettled in the United States since 1995 have come via Malaysia.

In August 2008, committee staff met separately with officials in Malaysia’s immigration department and the prime minister’s office, to convey the committee’s concern regarding the extortion and trafficking allegations. Immigration Director-General Datuk Mahmood Bin Adam and long-time immigration enforcement official Datuk Ishak Haji Mohammed denied the allegations of mistreatment against Burmese migrants at the hands of immigration and other Malaysian officials.

As reported recently in the Malaysia Star, "Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar also denied claims that thousands of illegal foreigners held at detention centres were 'being sold off' to human trafficking syndicates. ‘I take offence with the allegation because neither the Malaysian Government nor its officials make money by selling people.’"

However, according to the report, on Apr. 1, 2009, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan stated that an investigation has been launched.

The flow of refugees from Burma to Thailand, Malaysia and other countries has cost Burma’s neighbours millions of dollars in food and humanitarian assistance. The committee calls on officials of impacted ASEAN countries to measure the financial cost of hosting refugees displaced from Burma, and to request financial compensation from Burma’s military junta for costs incurred in caring for the refugees.

It asks the government of Malaysia to address the trafficking, selling and slavery of Burmese and other migrants within Malaysia and across its border with Thailand. As a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Malaysia is urged to consider alternatives to detention for refugees and asylum seekers, especially for women and children.

"Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak should act on this U.S. Senate report to protect the rights of refugees and victims of human trafficking," said HRW’s Pearson.

The report advises the U.S., in coordination with other donor countries, to continue providing funds to facilitate sharing of information on human trafficking among authorities of Thailand and Malaysia; and to provide technical and other assistance to the governments of Malaysia and Thailand so that the trafficking of Burmese and other migrants may be more actively pursued and prosecuted. - IPS, 23/4/2009, MALAYSIA: Burmese Refugees "Treated Like a Commodity"

Back home, Malaysiakini reported that pressure is again on Najib to do the right thing..

There is mounting pressure for newly-minted Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to take action in the wake of a damning United States Senate report on human trafficking in Malaysia.

MCPX

New York-based Human Rights Watch has called on Najib “to protect the rights of refugees and victims of human trafficking.”

Meanwhile, veteran parliamentarian Lim Kit Siang urged the government to respond to allegations that Malaysian officials are complicit in the human trafficking of refugees.

“This is not only most damaging to Malaysia’s international image but raises also grave questions about Malaysia’s human rights commitment in Asean,” said Lim.

Two days ago, the US Senate released a report which once again put Malaysia under the spotlight on its long-standing problem of human trafficking.

The report was the result of investigations prompted by allegations of the trafficking of thousands of Burmese refugees in Malaysia who were held in detention centres around the country.

They were deported to the Thailand-Malaysia border, where they were extorted for up to RM2,000 each in return for safe journey back to Malaysia.

According to the report, as many as 10 percent of these refugees never made it back to Malaysia because of their inability to pay their ransom and were sold to human peddlers.

The male refugees were mainly sold as slaves into fishing industries, factories, plantations, while the female refugees were either sold as sex or domestic workers. There was no documentation on the fate of children.

‘Most young women deported to the Thai border are sexually abused, even in front of their husbands, by the syndicates, since no one dares to intervene as they would be shot or stabbed to death in the jungle,’’ an NGO worker was quoted by the report.

The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations which produced the report, titled ‘Trafficking and Extortion of Burmese Migrants in Malaysia and Southern Thailand’, comprised 18 senators led by former Democrat US presidential candidate John Kerry.

Gov’t officials in cohort with traffickers

In addition, the report cited troubling allegations of Malaysian officials - including Immigration Department officials, police and Ikatan Relawan Rakyat (Rela) officials - colluding with human traffickers for personal gain.

“Burmese migrants are reportedly taken by Malaysian government personnel from detention facilities to the Malaysia-Thailand border for deportation. Upon arrival at the Malaysia-Thailand border, human traffickers reportedly take possession of the migrants and issue ransom demands on an individual basis,” said the report.

“Migrants state that freedom is possible only once money demands are met. Specific payment procedures are outlined, which reportedly include bank accounts in Kuala Lumpur to which money should be transferred.

“The committee was informed that on some occasions, the ‘attendance’ list reviewed by traffickers along the border was identical to the attendance list read prior to departure from the Malaysian detention facilities.”

The matter was of interest to the US because the approximately 40,000 Burmese refugees that have resettled in Malaysia since 1995 came mainly from Malaysia.

Currently, Malaysia has not acceded to both the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol on Refugee, and does not officially recognise refugees, although the government allows the United Nations High Commissioner (UNHCR) to carry out registration and resettlement of refugees.

The report also criticised Rela for possessing too much power and noted allegations of their aggressive treatment towards refugees, including arresting and detaining refugees regardless of UNHCR documentation.

Under the 2005 Malaysian Securities Regulation, the volunteer corps allows members to arrest and detain suspected illegal immigrants, enter premises without a search warrant, bear firearms and demand documents.

First-hand accounts of extortion

The report also quoted first-hand accounts of trafficking and extortion.

One victim recounted how he received threats that he would be beaten, shot and killed if he was unable to pay up his ransom.

Another victim described that he was taken to Thailand-Malaysia border twice by Malaysian immigration officials and forced to pay RM3,000 for his release on both occasions.

“When we arrived at the Thai border, it was already dark. The Thai agents were already there when we arrived at the border river bank. The agents took us to Thailand by boat. The city we arrived in was [deleted]. We were there for about a week. The Thai agent gave us very bad meals, they fed us twice a day.

“They asked us to contact our friends and family who live in Kuala Lumpur. My friend sent RM1,500 to Hat Yai from Kuala Lumpur by [deleted] Bank. After they received the money, I was sent back to Kuala Lumpur. After a week, I was arrested again and sent to the Thai border again.’’

One was told that inability to pay ransom would result in him being sold to Thai agents to work in the sea as a fisherman without pay.

Many others noted that they were returned to Malaysia after their friends in Kuala Lumpur paid up their ransom.

Nevertheless, the committee credited the Malaysian government for allowing UNHCR to carry out refugee protection and assistance activities since 1975.

The report also revealed that on April 1, police chief Musa Hassan announced that the police has started investigations on allegations of extortion and human trafficking of Burmese refugees.

Recommendations for Malaysia

In its list of recommendations, the report suggested that relevant governments and organisations request for financial compensation from Burma’s military junta for costs incurred in caring for refugees.

Government, police and anti-corruption officials were also implored to address the trafficking selling and slavery of refugees, assist victims of trafficking within the country.

In addition, they were encouraged to consider alternatives to detention for refugees and asylum seekers, especially women and children.

Lastly, the report appealed for unhindered access for UNHCR officials to all facilities within the country where refugees are detained so that they may carry out registration work, and for the abolishment of Rela.

As of now, there are approximately 87,000 Burmese refugees in Malaysia who fled Burma because of ethnic and political persecution by the military junta.

Of these, only 57,000 are registered, with the majority being Chins (25,000) and Rohingya Muslims (16,000), and the remainders including ethnic Arakanese, Kachin, Karen, Shan and Mon.

However, despite the release of the scathing report, the authorities have not let up on their effort to round up refugees.

“The Malaysian authorities rounded up and detained some 300 migrants, including small children, during raids in the Imbi neighborhood of Kuala Lumpur late Wednesday night,” lamented advocacy officer Amy Alexander from California-based Chin Human Rights Organization.

Kennedy Lal Ram Lian, coordinator of the Chin Refugee Centre in Kuala Lumpur, said: “No one has been released - not even UNHCR card holders. More than 10 Chin detainees are UNHCR-recognised refugees awaiting resettlement to a third country. If they are deported to the border, they are at risk of being sold to traffickers.”

Government in denial

Meanwhile, opposition parliamentarian Lim has sought a meeting with government leaders to discuss the controversy.

“The Malaysian Parliamentary Caucus on Myanmar will convene a meeting on the (US Senate) report and seek a meeting with Najib and the new foreign minister, Anifah Aman.”

However, his parliamentary colleague Charles Santiago (right) is pessimistic that action would be taken.

“Instead of acting on these recommendations ... ministers would categorically deny the report, rubbishing it as an attempt to discredit the government,” predicted the Klang MP from DAP.

After all, former home minister Syed Hamid Albar had denied such claims before.

“I take offence with the allegation because neither the Malaysian government nor its officials make money by selling people,” he was quoted to have said.

Santiago said he had repeatedly raised the issue in Parliament.

“They would sing the same rhetoric of having carried out an investigation on the immigration officers and found them to be squeaky clean.”

The MP nevertheless called on new Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to open a new investigation on the matter. - Malaysiakini, 25/4/2009, Najib told to act on damning trafficking report