MALAYSIA SUFFERS FROM HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES BY THE REFUGEES, UNHCR AND NGOs.
…WHEN WILL THE UNITED NATIONS RECOGNIZE MALAYSIA’S EXPLEMPARY DEEDS?
By Mansor Puteh
REFUGEES IN MALAYSIA SHOULD BE PUT ON ISLANDS LIKE THE VIETNAMESE ‘BOAT PEOPLE’ OF THE 1960s WITH THE NGO OFFICIALS, FOR THE GOOD OF EVERYBODY.
The world must be made to realize fast that Malaysia and Malaysians have suffered long enough from the influx of the refugees, especially those from Myanmar.
And through no fault of ours and for which we are made to feel guilty for not extending our hands to them, like it is our responsibility to ease the burdens of the refugees and the UNHCR which in a way, also helps to ease the problem of the Myanmar regime so they are spared from continued dissention by those whom they are persecuting and also become the punching bag for some NGOs in Malaysia.
Malaysia and Malaysians, too, have been ‘persecuted’ by the UNHCR and the NGOs which claim to support the refugees. They have failed to find out who had caused the problem to exist in the first place and why it had been allowed to drag on for so long.
The problem will never end unless if the lands that had been seized away from them are returned and with the establishment of the Arakan state, a prospect which is bleak.
The policy of non-interference adopted by Asean maybe one of the main reasons why such a problem still exists in Malaysia. It can also be seen as an indirect endorsement and support of the actions of the regime in Myanmar.
The other countries in Asean don’t care because they are not directly or indirectly affected; only Malaysia is.
The problem with Malaysia is that it had opened its doors too wide in the past to allow refugees from the neighboring and distant countries to seek refuge when their countries could not take care of them. And over the years, the foreigners had started to take for granted and thought that they could continue to count on Malaysia to solve their problems, while their original countries continue to persecute them.
This has caused Malaysia to be put in a tight spot, and for starting to stamp its feet, it has now become a center of attention of the world and its relevant agencies, particularly the UNHCR and other UN bodies, which now expect Malaysia to do their duties for them, while the other countries in the region continued to look elsewhere and are not even condemned for their ignoring the plight of the refugees who are mostly of the same religious faith as them.
Many of their supporters, too, have taken for granted that it is Malaysia’s sacred duty to protect and provide for them at all costs failing which Malaysia will be charged for human abuse and for being inhuman.
While the other countries in the same region as Malaysia, are free to do whatever they like by stopping the refugees from coming into their countries; thus they are spared from being so charged.
Malaysia should be commended for not acting as hastily as those other countries, and for agreeing to allow the refugees a safe heaven. But this does not happen. And Malaysia continues to be condemned by the international agencies and other so-called human rights organization, including some of their own.
These organizations and Malaysian NGOs should look at what Malaysia had done in the last few decades to see how it has tried its level best to be humane.
I attended a so-called forum organized by a well-known NGO which seems to specialize on how to handle and help the plight of the refugees particularly the Christian ones from Myanmar whom they claim to be persecuted in their own homeland, by none other the Buddhist regime of the country.
I find the discourse to be trite; the speakers from the NGO sounds to be pathetic, blaming Malaysia for no reason other than for not being able to offer the refugees everything they demand, to the detriment of its own citizens and its resources.
So one can say, indirectly, they are the ones who have been ‘encouraging’ them to come to Malaysia, since it is a better country where they easily go to and hide in, and where they can be welcome by the NGOs and other groups.
I suspect the leaders of the NGO have a strong affinity with them because they share the same religion and who also want to see more non-Muslims being accepted into the country so in time they could get permanent residency status and later still, citizenship.
In other words, they are telling the refugees who are already here and those who are not yet making the move to come here, that Malaysia can accommodate them, that Malaysia is better than Siam and Singapura and the other neighboring countries.
These refugees do not want to go to any country; they want to come to Malaysia where they can blame it and their leaders because they are mostly Muslims.
This particular NGO has of late been closely related to the opposition party so much so that one of them had indeed ran in the last general elections and actually won. So can we conclude that this particular NGO is nothing more but a springboard for those who do not dare to go into the opposition camp, but who are waiting in line to learn the ropes, before they go full force into it?
I find the statements, comments and remarks made by their representative at the forum to be too one-sided, like they are blaming Malaysia for the problems and troubles faced by the Chins, Mons and what not who have landed on our shores but are still persecuted by the Malaysian government, which another person had said had refused to sign the UN convention on refugees.
And from what I had digressed from their statements and demands, they want Malaysia to sign the convention fast, so that all the refugees can leave their hiding place and be given homes, jobs, schooling for their children, which means that they are to be treated better than the country’s citizens.
But what these people had neglected to admit or say is how on earth did Malaysia get to be blamed for the problems and troubles of these people?
And haven’t they realized how many of them have Malaysia accommodated since so many decades, when they first started to come into the country in droves.
If they did not like living here, why then did they still chose to come?
Maybe, they were given the impression that being a refugee in Malaysia is better than going to other countries, particularly the non-Muslim ones, such as Siam, Singapura and the other countries near Siam such as Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia which are Buddhist or non-Muslim ones.
The forum paid scant attention to the many other Muslim refugees from Myanmar particularly those from Arakan known as the Rohingyas who have also been displaced and persecuted.
And it is their right to come to Malaysia, a Muslim country; whereas the others who are not Muslim cannot expect Malaysia to be their good hosts, when they cannot depend on the other non-Muslim countries in the same region.
I found what the statements they made to be pathetic. They show the lack in understanding of the true situation. They did not ask who had started it all and why have Malaysia got to do with the plight of the refugees from Myanmar.
The real target is not Malaysia, but Myanmar.
And it is not Malaysia which is at fault. Malaysia is the victim. And those refugees and the NGOs which support them including the UN are the real culprits.
Malaysia has given a safe heaven to many refugees, but none of them has felt compelled to acknowledge this and thank the country.
A lot of social as well as economic problems have been created by them, and many Malaysians are affected by them. Yet, Malaysians, generally do not complain as long as they behave themselves.
It will be horrendous if Malaysia signs the UN convention on refugees, without being guaranteed that the same UN organization that those who had landed on our shores are quickly given resettlement in a third country.
So few countries are willing to accept them. And most of them are non-Muslims. The Chins and Mons who are Christians seem to be favored by the few countries in the west and America. And the Rohingyans are left aside, to rot in Malaysia for decades.
Why did the particular NGO not bring out this matter? Are they blind to the real issues?Didn’t they also know how Malaysia and the Malaysians have been suffering in silence for having accepted the refugees?
These refugees keep on coming and they also bring along their behavior which are sometimes contrary to what is practiced in the country.
The NGOs and other well-meaning community groups do not seem to realize how Malaysia and Malaysians have been suffering in silence for so long and it is time for all Malaysians to come up and tell them to get the right picture.
And it is also time for other groups of Malaysians to come out and charge the UN, this particular NGO and other well-meaning and confused individuals or groups that Malaysia must be protected from them!
That Malaysia must find a way to protect itself from being further abused by the refugees and the NGOs and other groups and individuals.
They have held photo exhibitions to show the deplorable living conditions the refugees are in, with the photographers having gone to their hiding places in the city and in the jungles like these are secrets that the Malaysian authorities are not aware of.
But why can’t other groups also have similar photo exhibitions and show the deplorable conditions these refugees had turned Malaysia into, since they first came into the country and how much the tax-payers have to pay to sustain them, and also how much effort has the police and Rela showed just to contain them before they become totally irresponsible.
The refugees are not here because they like it. But they can decide for themselves if Malaysia is not the right place for them. Yet, they still came.Why can’t the NGOs and UN and other individuals inform the potential refugees from Myanmar in particular not to come to Malaysia, because it is a Muslim country and their being here may not be welcome, unlike the Rohingyas who are Muslims?
All the facilities and money that Malaysia has spent on accommodating the refugees must now come in the scores of millions. All of it should have been used for other purposes that benefit Malaysians who pay income tax, unlike them who only expect charity and accommodation – for free.
My final advise to the NGO and the other groups is that they should start to focus on the country that had expelled the refugees, which is Myanmar and the international agency which has been empowered to look after them, the UN, which has failed in their duties to send all of them for resettlement in third countries, with many of them having to continue living in Malaysia for decades, with many in makeshift huts in the jungles.
Many of them would not have survived if they had remained in Myanmar.
Yet, the NGOs and UNHCR in Malaysia have no thought of asking the Malaysian government to open one or two of the islands in the northern part of the Peninsula Malaysia to place all the refugees like what the country had done with the influx of the Vietnamese refugees who had escaped from their country because of American intervention in it for so long.
They were put in Pulau Bidong off Terengganu, until the situation in their country changed and they were all repatriated. None of them were allowed into the Peninsula where they could have created mischief and social problems.
In this way, the refugees from Myanmar, especially can remain intact and be with their own kind and safe, until the time when they are allowed to return to their original countries.
And in this way, too, the others who are still in Myanmar won’t be too compelled to leave their country to seek refuge in Malaysia, if they know they are going to be kept in the island.
UNHCR can also have their office in the island. And the NGOs, too, can be located there where they can serve the refugees.
The other proposal which none of the NGOs and UNHCR have not been known to propose it not to allow Malaysian companies and factories to bring in workers and laborers from Myanmar, so that they can give employment to the refugees instead, since Myanmar should not be rewarded by having their excess manpower sent to Malaysia to seek employment and lessen the burden that should be on the shoulders of their government. Myanmar should not be so rewarded for causing so many of their own kind to flee from the country.
By Mansor Puteh
REFUGEES IN MALAYSIA SHOULD BE PUT ON ISLANDS LIKE THE VIETNAMESE ‘BOAT PEOPLE’ OF THE 1960s WITH THE NGO OFFICIALS, FOR THE GOOD OF EVERYBODY.
The world must be made to realize fast that Malaysia and Malaysians have suffered long enough from the influx of the refugees, especially those from Myanmar.
And through no fault of ours and for which we are made to feel guilty for not extending our hands to them, like it is our responsibility to ease the burdens of the refugees and the UNHCR which in a way, also helps to ease the problem of the Myanmar regime so they are spared from continued dissention by those whom they are persecuting and also become the punching bag for some NGOs in Malaysia.
Malaysia and Malaysians, too, have been ‘persecuted’ by the UNHCR and the NGOs which claim to support the refugees. They have failed to find out who had caused the problem to exist in the first place and why it had been allowed to drag on for so long.
The problem will never end unless if the lands that had been seized away from them are returned and with the establishment of the Arakan state, a prospect which is bleak.
The policy of non-interference adopted by Asean maybe one of the main reasons why such a problem still exists in Malaysia. It can also be seen as an indirect endorsement and support of the actions of the regime in Myanmar.
The other countries in Asean don’t care because they are not directly or indirectly affected; only Malaysia is.
The problem with Malaysia is that it had opened its doors too wide in the past to allow refugees from the neighboring and distant countries to seek refuge when their countries could not take care of them. And over the years, the foreigners had started to take for granted and thought that they could continue to count on Malaysia to solve their problems, while their original countries continue to persecute them.
This has caused Malaysia to be put in a tight spot, and for starting to stamp its feet, it has now become a center of attention of the world and its relevant agencies, particularly the UNHCR and other UN bodies, which now expect Malaysia to do their duties for them, while the other countries in the region continued to look elsewhere and are not even condemned for their ignoring the plight of the refugees who are mostly of the same religious faith as them.
Many of their supporters, too, have taken for granted that it is Malaysia’s sacred duty to protect and provide for them at all costs failing which Malaysia will be charged for human abuse and for being inhuman.
While the other countries in the same region as Malaysia, are free to do whatever they like by stopping the refugees from coming into their countries; thus they are spared from being so charged.
Malaysia should be commended for not acting as hastily as those other countries, and for agreeing to allow the refugees a safe heaven. But this does not happen. And Malaysia continues to be condemned by the international agencies and other so-called human rights organization, including some of their own.
These organizations and Malaysian NGOs should look at what Malaysia had done in the last few decades to see how it has tried its level best to be humane.
I attended a so-called forum organized by a well-known NGO which seems to specialize on how to handle and help the plight of the refugees particularly the Christian ones from Myanmar whom they claim to be persecuted in their own homeland, by none other the Buddhist regime of the country.
I find the discourse to be trite; the speakers from the NGO sounds to be pathetic, blaming Malaysia for no reason other than for not being able to offer the refugees everything they demand, to the detriment of its own citizens and its resources.
So one can say, indirectly, they are the ones who have been ‘encouraging’ them to come to Malaysia, since it is a better country where they easily go to and hide in, and where they can be welcome by the NGOs and other groups.
I suspect the leaders of the NGO have a strong affinity with them because they share the same religion and who also want to see more non-Muslims being accepted into the country so in time they could get permanent residency status and later still, citizenship.
In other words, they are telling the refugees who are already here and those who are not yet making the move to come here, that Malaysia can accommodate them, that Malaysia is better than Siam and Singapura and the other neighboring countries.
These refugees do not want to go to any country; they want to come to Malaysia where they can blame it and their leaders because they are mostly Muslims.
This particular NGO has of late been closely related to the opposition party so much so that one of them had indeed ran in the last general elections and actually won. So can we conclude that this particular NGO is nothing more but a springboard for those who do not dare to go into the opposition camp, but who are waiting in line to learn the ropes, before they go full force into it?
I find the statements, comments and remarks made by their representative at the forum to be too one-sided, like they are blaming Malaysia for the problems and troubles faced by the Chins, Mons and what not who have landed on our shores but are still persecuted by the Malaysian government, which another person had said had refused to sign the UN convention on refugees.
And from what I had digressed from their statements and demands, they want Malaysia to sign the convention fast, so that all the refugees can leave their hiding place and be given homes, jobs, schooling for their children, which means that they are to be treated better than the country’s citizens.
But what these people had neglected to admit or say is how on earth did Malaysia get to be blamed for the problems and troubles of these people?
And haven’t they realized how many of them have Malaysia accommodated since so many decades, when they first started to come into the country in droves.
If they did not like living here, why then did they still chose to come?
Maybe, they were given the impression that being a refugee in Malaysia is better than going to other countries, particularly the non-Muslim ones, such as Siam, Singapura and the other countries near Siam such as Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia which are Buddhist or non-Muslim ones.
The forum paid scant attention to the many other Muslim refugees from Myanmar particularly those from Arakan known as the Rohingyas who have also been displaced and persecuted.
And it is their right to come to Malaysia, a Muslim country; whereas the others who are not Muslim cannot expect Malaysia to be their good hosts, when they cannot depend on the other non-Muslim countries in the same region.
I found what the statements they made to be pathetic. They show the lack in understanding of the true situation. They did not ask who had started it all and why have Malaysia got to do with the plight of the refugees from Myanmar.
The real target is not Malaysia, but Myanmar.
And it is not Malaysia which is at fault. Malaysia is the victim. And those refugees and the NGOs which support them including the UN are the real culprits.
Malaysia has given a safe heaven to many refugees, but none of them has felt compelled to acknowledge this and thank the country.
A lot of social as well as economic problems have been created by them, and many Malaysians are affected by them. Yet, Malaysians, generally do not complain as long as they behave themselves.
It will be horrendous if Malaysia signs the UN convention on refugees, without being guaranteed that the same UN organization that those who had landed on our shores are quickly given resettlement in a third country.
So few countries are willing to accept them. And most of them are non-Muslims. The Chins and Mons who are Christians seem to be favored by the few countries in the west and America. And the Rohingyans are left aside, to rot in Malaysia for decades.
Why did the particular NGO not bring out this matter? Are they blind to the real issues?Didn’t they also know how Malaysia and the Malaysians have been suffering in silence for having accepted the refugees?
These refugees keep on coming and they also bring along their behavior which are sometimes contrary to what is practiced in the country.
The NGOs and other well-meaning community groups do not seem to realize how Malaysia and Malaysians have been suffering in silence for so long and it is time for all Malaysians to come up and tell them to get the right picture.
And it is also time for other groups of Malaysians to come out and charge the UN, this particular NGO and other well-meaning and confused individuals or groups that Malaysia must be protected from them!
That Malaysia must find a way to protect itself from being further abused by the refugees and the NGOs and other groups and individuals.
They have held photo exhibitions to show the deplorable living conditions the refugees are in, with the photographers having gone to their hiding places in the city and in the jungles like these are secrets that the Malaysian authorities are not aware of.
But why can’t other groups also have similar photo exhibitions and show the deplorable conditions these refugees had turned Malaysia into, since they first came into the country and how much the tax-payers have to pay to sustain them, and also how much effort has the police and Rela showed just to contain them before they become totally irresponsible.
The refugees are not here because they like it. But they can decide for themselves if Malaysia is not the right place for them. Yet, they still came.Why can’t the NGOs and UN and other individuals inform the potential refugees from Myanmar in particular not to come to Malaysia, because it is a Muslim country and their being here may not be welcome, unlike the Rohingyas who are Muslims?
All the facilities and money that Malaysia has spent on accommodating the refugees must now come in the scores of millions. All of it should have been used for other purposes that benefit Malaysians who pay income tax, unlike them who only expect charity and accommodation – for free.
My final advise to the NGO and the other groups is that they should start to focus on the country that had expelled the refugees, which is Myanmar and the international agency which has been empowered to look after them, the UN, which has failed in their duties to send all of them for resettlement in third countries, with many of them having to continue living in Malaysia for decades, with many in makeshift huts in the jungles.
Many of them would not have survived if they had remained in Myanmar.
Yet, the NGOs and UNHCR in Malaysia have no thought of asking the Malaysian government to open one or two of the islands in the northern part of the Peninsula Malaysia to place all the refugees like what the country had done with the influx of the Vietnamese refugees who had escaped from their country because of American intervention in it for so long.
They were put in Pulau Bidong off Terengganu, until the situation in their country changed and they were all repatriated. None of them were allowed into the Peninsula where they could have created mischief and social problems.
In this way, the refugees from Myanmar, especially can remain intact and be with their own kind and safe, until the time when they are allowed to return to their original countries.
And in this way, too, the others who are still in Myanmar won’t be too compelled to leave their country to seek refuge in Malaysia, if they know they are going to be kept in the island.
UNHCR can also have their office in the island. And the NGOs, too, can be located there where they can serve the refugees.
The other proposal which none of the NGOs and UNHCR have not been known to propose it not to allow Malaysian companies and factories to bring in workers and laborers from Myanmar, so that they can give employment to the refugees instead, since Myanmar should not be rewarded by having their excess manpower sent to Malaysia to seek employment and lessen the burden that should be on the shoulders of their government. Myanmar should not be so rewarded for causing so many of their own kind to flee from the country.
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