l : thesailnews@yahoo.com An Alert for Modern Day Exploitation of Rohingya Refugees in Malaysia

By Theng,

Diaspora moment would be arrived soon for Rohingya refugees in Malaysia. Rohingyans do not aware what are going to be happen and what are going to be paved in the future. Rohingyans do not aware the keys which would exploit their plights.

Some Rohingya leaders would be responsible for it. Rohingyans themselves did not know yet who are they? What status they attained?
 

Nepotism among Rohingya leaders and their selfishness are the other keys to exploit the desperate Rohingya refugees. Their objectives to grab the forth coming Rohingya projects and domination of leadership are ridiculous.
 

The due courses of Rohingyans are uneducated and consent-less, it’s make good opportunity to utilize them wisely. From the beginning, the Rohingyans and those selfish-leaders never come to know about sort of recognition given to Rohingya refugees as of ‘prima-facie refugees’, why added to beneficiary group and paved the so call durable local-solution or repatriation to Burma. According to UNHCR’s Country Operation Plan, previous they received letters were Rohingya Letters in another name rather than Temporary Protection Letters-TPL. Later they received cards up to now are not mandated refugee cards. Written in their cards is being different from the other mandated refugee cards. Therefore they would not be even protected from ‘refoulement’.

That was the main reasons for why many Rohingya refugees confronted for their rights through entering into UNHCR compound five times in 2002 and once in 2003. All of them were officially handed over to police by their refugee agency-UNHCR. Again, immigration officials handed over them to people smugglers under deportation process because no country willing to accept them. Apart from these, a group of the other six Rohingya refugees who took shelter at U.S. Embassy on 17 June 2003, were released by UNHCR’s given commitment of resettlement to third country after two and half years imprisoned in Sugai Buloh Jail. Among these groups, only the first group about 24 Rohingyans had been eventually resettled to third countries between 2003 and 2005. The rest others including refugee activists, former UNHCR’s interpreters are still left to uncertainty. One of the former interpreter Mr Din Tinshwe did find his own way to Europe and now leaving in Belgium.

That was why area based Rohingya representatives corporately with umbrella Burmese opposition groups had come to submit memorandums at UNHCR in 2007, 2009 respectively and several hundreds Rohingyas had gone to find more safer place by open risky boats. These made a little opportunity to inform their hidden situations. These made their custody-UNHCR unavoidably came to view to lift its miginalization agenda through passing dozens for resettlement between 2009 and 2010, and registration of some thousands undocumented Rohingya refugees from the mid 2009 to 2010. However,such exercises are being a show and it doesn’t not mean implemented fully until the office grand them as mandated refugees and access equal in resettlement quota like other refugees.

Since last year, UNHCR bounded with the Future Global Network-FGN and added as an implementing partner. FGN was founded by Mr Azam after he was expelled from president post of Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia-ABIM @ Malay Islamic Youth Force-MIYF. ABIM was the organization which received to handle extension of Rohingya Letters from 2002 to 2004. But he continuously embraced Mr Sawmiullah as a representative of the whole Rohingya population. Because Mr Sawmillah was former president of Rohingya Information Centre-RIC and one of responsible person for suspension of Imm-13 process during Aug 2006. 

On the result of Mr Sawmiullah expelled from RIC, he able to corporate more in FGN and recruited some corrupt Rohingya religious leaders. Later FGN utilized them to explore in collection of funds through forming another Rohingya religious orgnazation call Majalis Ulama Rohingya-MUR and lately founded another one call United Islam Rohingya Orgniazation for Development-UNIROD in Penang. Huge amounts or bank-cheques were passed to FGN and the rest smaller amounts were used for own.

MUR was took over by a Rohingya religious teacher- Ali Ahmed during 2007 and 2008. But after his gone for resettlement at Sweden relating to "Series of Refugees for Sale" documentary, MUR has able to restore its mal-objectives again. One of them Mv Islam also chairperson of UNIROD was fled to Bangladesh with RM-200,000 funds last year.

FGN had also hold several meeting with some acting Rohingya activists and Rohingya students in its office. An analyst on FGN says FGN road map is "2020-Wawasan" which give false hope for new Rohingya generations that they could be integrated or absorbed through malaization after the old generation gone.
 

These corrupt religious leaders boasting yet that their FGN has collected funds about one million Malaysian currency and they will share it for Rohingya refugees who will underpin them. They also announced in several meetings with Rohingyas in Penang and Gombak that they are prepared for Jihad in order to take over Arakan. But it could not be happen until Malaysian government support their agenda. The Sail found their agenda is only artificial propaganda to gain supports of some Islamic NGOs. However, the vast majority of Rohingyans worry for adoption and introduction of such extremist-mind when the world is fighting to eliminate extremism.
 

Malaysian Special Branch-IPK has followed long time behind them. But IPK never dare to inquiry because they have close-ties with high ranking local religious leaders.

Rohingyans have yet long way to go as the office has already accepted the idea of FGN thus the UNHCR’s operation plan stated that “one of the challenges for Malaysia as it aspires to be a fully developed country by 2020 is that it will need to assume its global responsibility and one of those is to help the situation of refugees.”
It is new mockery plan to exploit and exclude Rohingya refugees. So, there is no doubt that vulnerable Rohingya refugees and their children have to languish and wrangle up to 2020 in legal limbo once their concern quarter misruled over their plights.

Therefore UNHCR must not follow unscrupulous guideline of FGN. UNHCR must listen towards its refugees and represent their voices. In principle, it is refugees to choose whether safe to stay. They should be freely accessed like other refugees. UNHCR must pave equal appropriate way for Rohingya refugees since durable tempo-solution was repeatedly failed. UNHCR must take lessons from Borneo stateless refugees who were displaced twice and wrangled several. UNHCR must acknowledge persecutions and oppressions faced by Rohingyans in home and subjections again in the host. UNHCR is also witnessed of several occasions faced by refugees in Malaysia when rights of even Malaysian are not guaranteed. In this situation, UNHCR must not exploit their plights by reviving the same unworkable dimension and push them as people of concern to Malaysia.

Stakeholders, operation partners and implementing partners should learn from recent impacts on thousands of Malaysians rally for rights and the Au-Mas swap deal agreement which undermine your rights voices . Which is an example of not to push the other particularly Rohingya refugees into such uncertainty. Not to brand easily them as a close group and not to encouragement beyond the Malaysian government.
 

Pushing towards Malaysia is over and more than treble numbers than Rohingyans had been able to resettle shortly while Rohingyans are await. It is time for Rohingyans to get equal assessment. When Malaysia is not in position to fulfil their needy, Malaysia government must act decisively and play fair role to advocate to find permanent solution for Rohingya refugees. Malaysian government must aware every key engage for exploitation..

Source: The Sail