ASIA / PACIFIC
June 1, 2015
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 3
Rohingya seek better life in
Malaysia, but reality is stark
By Eileen Ng
The Associated Press
UALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia has been
a sort of promised land for Rohingya Muslims
fleeing persecution in Myanmar, also known as
Burma. The tens of thousands who endured perilous
journeys to get to Malaysia find more work opportunities
than in Indonesia and a more Muslim-friendly environ-
ment than in Thailand.
But in the 25 years since Hamid Hussein Abul Khair
arrived, that promise has been worn away by the
statelessness and poverty that have never left him.
Rohingya face a tenuous existence in Malaysia, unable
to legally work because the country, like Thailand and
Indonesia, doesn’t recognize asylum seekers and refugees
and hasn’t signed the U.N. Refugee Convention. They
mostly scrape by on dirty or dangerous jobs shunned by
Malaysians, live in squalid conditions, and have no access
to free healthcare or state-run schools.
For many Rohingya, even living on the margins of
Malaysian society is a step forward. But those who have
been here for years yearn for something better — at least
for their children.
“God willing, we can make a living here. We are
thankful to Malaysia, but what future do we have? My
children can’t get citizenship, they have no formal educa-
tion, and they can’t get proper jobs,” Hamid, 54, said in his
austere apartment on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.
Denied citizenship by Myanmar and chased off their
land in repeated outbreaks of communal violence, the 1.3
million Rohingya there have been identified by the U.N.
as one of the world’s most persecuted minorities. Some
140,000 have been displaced from their homes, and many
live in camps. Myanmar regards them as illegal migrants
from Bangladesh, even though many have lived in the
country for generations.
The desperation of the Rohingya has been highlighted
in recent weeks by the boatloads of people from Myanmar
and Bangladesh stranded in Malacca Strait waters after
their traffickers abandoned them near the end of risky
1,000-mile voyages amid a clampdown by local
authorities. Some 3,500 came ashore in Indonesia,
Malaysia, and Thailand, but many of those now at
shelters say their goal was to get to Malaysia.
Nearly 46,000 Rohingya in Malaysia have been
registered as refugees by the U.N. refugee agency
UNHCR, and there are an estimated 40,000 more whose
status has yet to be assessed. Obtaining a U.N. refugee
card generally protects people from arrest.
The economic prosperity, Islamic culture, and the large
population of Rohingya in Malaysia are all pull factors.
“Malaysia is a modern Muslim urban society, with a
K
ENTRY DENIED. Hong Kong student leader Joshua Wong arrives
at the Hong Kong airport on May 26, 2015. The teen protest leader, who
rose to prominence during last year’s pro-democracy protests in the
semiautonomous Chinese region, talked to media after he was prevented
from entering Malaysia. Wong said he was heading to Penang to speak
at a conference, but immigration officials at the airport stopped him from
entering the country. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Malaysia refuses entry to teen
leader of Hong Kong protests
HONG KONG (AP) — A teenage leader of Hong Kong’s
pro-democracy protests was turned away at the airport
when he tried to enter Malaysia, which said he has been
blacklisted.
Joshua Wong said the immigration officials cited a
“government order” when they stopped him at the airport
in northern Penang state.
Immigration director-general Mustafa Ibrahim said in
a statement that Wong is banned from entering Malaysia,
but did not explain why.
The 18-year-old was scheduled to speak at seminars in
four Malaysian cities on the pro-democracy movement in
Hong Kong and about the Chinese government’s bloody
crackdown on student protesters in Tiananmen Square on
June 4, 1989.
He wrote on the Facebook page for his student activist
group, Scholarism, that when he tried to call the local
organizers after he was denied entry, immigration
officials grabbed him by the arms.
He was then put on a Dragonair flight back to Hong
Kong.
Wong helped spearhead the student-led protests that
gripped Hong Kong for nearly three months last year.
At the peak, tens of thousands or more protesters
demonstrated against election restrictions in the
semiautonomous Chinese region, though the movement
ended quietly as the government refused to offer
concessions.
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booming construction business and economy. As a place of
income, it’s many times better than where they come from.
In terms of security, although it’s not easy with risks of
arrests and exploitation, it’s still significantly better than
what they have left behind,” said Richard Towle, the
UNHCR representative in Malaysia.
Refugees from Myanmar make up the biggest chunk of
the more than 150,000 asylum seekers and refugees in
Malaysia, one of the highest numbers in Asia, according to
the UNHCR. The country has no refugee camps, so they
live as “urban refugees” in shantytown settlements,
cramped low-cost flats, or isolated houses where they
work in restaurants, factories, plantations, and con-
struction sites.
Nurjan Nur Mohamad, an 18-year-old Rohingya
woman who arrived in Malaysia two months ago after a
dangerous boat journey, said that while she is afraid of
getting arrested, she is also extremely relieved to have left
behind the threats and violence of Myanmar.
“I live in fear of the police here, but there is peace and I
get enough food. It’s so much better than in the village,”
she said. She hopes she and her new husband can win
refugee status from the UNHCR to get some protection.
When he first arrived in Malaysia at age 29, Hamid also
was constantly afraid of getting caught by police. He took
up various odd jobs and then set up a small food stall
selling roti canai, a popular Indian flatbread, and potato
samosa. Later, his wife joined him in Malaysia and they
had four children. Life became more tolerable when they
were recognized as refugees by the UNHCR, but the
future was — and is — still murky.
Continued on page 16
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TENUOUS EXISTENCE. Rohingya school kids watch teacher’s day
celebrations outside their classroom at a Rohingya Education Center in
Klang, Malaysia. With more work opportunities than Indonesia and a more
Muslim-friendly environment than Thailand, Malaysia has long been the
destination of choice for Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myan-
mar, also known as Burma. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
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