Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Refugee Figuers at a Glance in Malaysia


As of end April 2015, there are some 152,830 refugees and asylum-seekers registered with UNHCR in Malaysia.  


- 141,920 are from Myanmar, comprising some 49,600 Chins, 45,910 Rohingyas, 12,320 Myanmar Muslims, 7,280 Rakhines & Arakanese, and other ethnicities from Myanmar.

- There are some 10,910 refugees and asylum-seekers from other countries, including some 3,890 Sri Lankans, 1,210 Pakistanis, 1,090 Somalis, 950 Syrians, 830 Iraqis, 540 Iranians, 430 Palestinians, and others from other countries.

Some 69% of refugees and asylum-seekers are men, while 31% are women.

There are some 33,000 children below the age of 18.

Source: here
 

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Religious Extremism Looms Over Myanmar

JUNE 17, 2015
Author(s): David Scott Mathieson
Published in: CNN
The impact of Myanmar's repressive policy toward Rohingya Muslims was made clear in recent weeks with scenes of desperate people crammed into boats, an escalation of a miserable maritime flight in which an estimated 90,000 people have fallen prey to smugglers and traffickers since early 2014. The United Nations estimates that around 1,000 people have died on the way.
The root cause is the long-term reprehensible treatment of the Rohingya in Myanmar (also known as Burma) — stateless, officially and socially reviled, with severe curbs on their rights to work, travel, get health care and education, and practice their religion.