The ASEAN and Malaysia don’t care about us, Burmese migrants

 Protect our freedom by protecting refugees

Cheah Kah Seng  in Malaysiakini on May 23, 08

I refer to the Malaysiakini

report Don’t forget Burmese refugees here too, PM told.

Same today with the Burmese.

• The Burmese military junta obviously could not respond rationally to foreign offers of help for this cyclone disaster because they have too much evils to hide.
• As long as the military junta does not collapse (due to China’s support and ASEAN) there will be pressure for the people to take their fate into their own hands, ie, to take flight, and escape to neighboring countries in a multi-year exodus over land to Thailand, Bangladesh, China, and by sea to India and Malaysia.

Comment: No, No, No, they don’t have the Malay blood, Indonesia blood, European blood nor Arab blood. (Not my words, I am just reading their lips, the minds and thoughts of this country’s leaders. They care for those only with their own reasons, all of us know but dare not tell frankly. They don’t care about others whether from Vietnam, Burma, Bengladesh, Africa etc. They don’t care even if the others are Muslims!)

Megat Junid, the ex-Deputy Home Minister even said,”There is nothing wrong in Burma, no war, he don’t believe that if Burmese Government is really bad, how could Rohingyas cross mainland Burma to come here. Burmese Rohingya Muslims would be arrested, put into detention camps and deported.

• He even claimed that they must be forced to work in the detention centres to earn for the expenses for deportation. 
• It could be regarded as practicing illegal forced labour and ILO and Internatinal communities could boycott Malaysia.
• Although repeatedly promised to solve the Burmese Muslim issue, both UNHCR and host government are using delaying tactics for few decades.
• I don’t want to mention about mixed Malay blooded Philipinos, Thais, Vietnams and Cambodia, who were treated favourably here.
• Just see Acheh. Muslim state with Muslim country. Just a political problem, which is solved after Tsunami. Now after peace agreement, rebels became state leaders. Why we could see Achehs holding Identity cards, like that of LEGAL WORKERS, issued here. They came in without PP, and are allowed to work or study anywhere, without levis, and are valid for few years.
• Why difficult for other refugees?

Let’s go back to the main article_ What are we to do? The refugee flow may not be as dramatic as the Vietnamese boat people. But what are we going to do with more refugees? We cannot even treat today’s Burmese refugees humanely. That the Burmese refugees – who are normally docile and low-profile – have been pushed to rioting inside Malaysian refugee camps is an indication of extreme official mishandling and cruelty.

We also need to recall and learn from the Asean governments’ maltreatment of Vietnamese boat people of late 1970’s.

• True, we were poorer at that time,
• threats of communist violence
• and subversion were fresh in our psyche,
• and Vietnam was not part of Asean then.

But hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese sold their belongings for gold bars, and took to the sea on unseaworthy vessels.

• They drowned at sea,
• were raided
• and raped by pirates,
• and suffered inhumane treatment in camps in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and to a lesser extent, Hong Kong.

We could have done the right thing_

• if we had expanded the refugee camps,
• treated them more humanely,
• and even eventually accepted a large, although limited, number of Vietnamese as immigrants.
• There should only be two conditions for immigration: a promise to abide by the Malaysian laws and second to learn Bahasa Malaysia.
• We could eat less to support a certain number of refugees,
• and we could seek international funding and disburse them fully.

To the ‘economically minded’ who fear sacrificing our economic resources, I say it is ultimately self-rewarding to do the right thing. It would infuse into our society, and in our children, a self- confidence and moral strength that no money can buy.

More practically,

• yesterday’s immigrants are today’s entrepreneurs and job creators.
• We would have built closer cultural and business ties between Malaysia and Vietnam by today.
• Malaysian children – whether Indian, Chinese, or Malay – will one day need that human connection to prosper and add to their employment choices and living standard.

It is issues such as these that make me wish for a faster change in the federal government. I would have normally preferred a ‘steady-as-she-goes’ approach. But these issues of urgent inhumanity and the – – – -and its dangerous determination to further empower Rela – that together contribute to my willingness to give up on the current federal government. (Not that we should believe any new government will carry out these reforms without civil pressure. Correct x3. Selangor MB, and two DAP Indians from Johore and Penang shamelessly taking the Apartheid trends although both of them are just early migrants here.)

Rela, the voluntary corps which is involved in abusing Burmese refugees, in particular, is an instrument of oppression that happens to be aimed at immigrants for now. It’s only a matter of time before this para-military group is empowered by new laws to refocus on domestic oppression. We must demand that Rela be disbanded, that any good people within Rela (Comment: we need to pray hard and hope so.) be trained and absorbed into the police, and that additional resources be channeled to improve the salary, welfare, training, equipments, and professionalism of the police instead.

What else can we do about Burmese refugees? We can encourage the media to report more on refugee camps and developments. State governments, probably not empowered to manage refugee camps, can nevertheless offer land to expand refugee camps. The state governments can also use whatever power they have to monitor the performance of the police and camp officers, and to help the media do its job.

I have personally known the kindness and protection of a Burmese family who escaped Burma on foot 40 years ago. The parents brought the eldest son and trekked across malaria-infested swamps and tropical jungle, and had to initially leave behind two infant children in Rangoon. They shined shoes in Hong Kong to make ends meet, then settled and rose to commercial prominence in Bangkok over 20 years, building factories and trading houses that have employed thousands of Thai people.

Burmese people look, eat, live, and dress in a style very much like an undeveloped Malaysia did, more so than Thais do. Perhaps some of the street names in Penang will remind us of our historical ties, as well as the economic glory that Burma once enjoyed and could have enjoyed. In the Pulau Tikus area of Penang, for example, there are Burmese temples and at least eight sets of street names that commemorate Burmese cities and rivers, such as: Burmah Road, Moulmein Road, Thaton Lane, Tavoy Road, Rangoon Road, Salween Road, Irawadi Road and Mandalay Road. You can find the origins of all these names on the Net. .(Comment: in Singapore there are about a dozen Burmese named streets. See Serangoon!)

These almost-forgotten street names also remind us of the consequences of giving up our liberty bit by bit to a central government that is built on socialist policies (not unlike our NEP), that will have to depend on strong men, that will inevitably turn authoritarian and fascist. Myanmar and Malaysia were both well endowed with similarly-rich natural resources and broadly similar governing structure half-a-century ago. But we took the path that gave us more liberty to conduct our own lives, to trade, and to be more open to the world.

That made the whole difference. We must not give up our liberty now, even if bit by bit. The best way to protect our liberty is to protect the basic rights of refugees, who are on the fringe of our society. The moment we give up protecting the refugees is the moment we give up protecting the outer fringe of our rights. Then the erosion begins.

Please read (my) articles regarding Burmese Migrants_

1. Applying for Malaysian citizenship
2. Humble request to the Prime Minister of Malaysia
3. Request to the YB Home Minister to help us from becoming undocumented illegal foreigners
4. Wake up call for UNHCR
5. Some Islamic values that rich muslim leaders try to ignore
6. For the Burmese Muslims, Christian and Buddhist friendships are superior to the Islamic-brotherhood
7. Appeal to International Leaders: Please show mercy by granting AMNESTY to Myanmars in your countries
8. Deafening silence from Malaysia regarding Myanmar Cyclone?
9. Is DAP means unDemocratic Aperthoid Pots, calling the kettle black?
10. “DAP man’s good article spoiled by a drop of shit!”
11. Why practice multiple standards in treating foreign migrants here?
12. Malaysian leader talking about the unfair selective favour given to some illegal migrants, which is denied to Burmese here
13. Archives from Star Online about Myanmar Refugees
14. Are paramedics’ treating at student camps and detention centers causing unnecessary deaths?
15. Amnesty International requests Malaysia to give MYANMAR REFUGEES temporary protection
16. Champion of the refugees requested PM not to ignore Burmese refugees
17. Race and Xenophobia
18. Rela raids: futile exercises of power
19. Myanmar refugees and Rela
20. RELA, the organization, the refugees fear
21. Bravo! Notorious Rela, carryon without even knowing your job
22. Redundant Rela
23. Hopless future for the Refugees
24. Detained Myanmar Asylum seekers riots because of injustices
25. It’s about equal rights
26. What an utter disgrace!
27. The rainbow of pluralism
28. The bogeyman’s to blame
29. The bogeyman’s to blame
30. ASEAN’s moral fibre
31. Thailand treated the Burmese Muslims refugees better than all the other Muslim governments
32. Rohingya refugees’ dilemma remains unsolved
33. Photos of Anti-Muslim Riots in Bago/Pegu
34. Asean embraces a rogue regime while inking a Charter for Big Business
35. RESPONSE OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY ON PERSECUTION OF MUSLIMS IN MYANMAR
36. UNSG’s INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS DAY MESSAGE
37. Exploiting Human Beings…A Global Disease?
38. May I have a decent immigration policy, please?
39. Islamic practices Vs Islamic values
40. THE SITUATION OF MUSLIMS IN BURMA
41. Myanmar’s Muslim sideshow
42. BURMESE INDIANS: THE FORGOTTEN LIVES
43. Easy Targets: The Persecution of Muslims in Burma
44. The Outsiders: Burmese Muslims
45. Persecution of Muslims in Myanmar
46. UN, US, EU and ASEAN must consider for the Restitution to Myanmar/Burmese Citizens
47. UN, US, EU and ASEAN must consider for the Restitution to Myanmar/Burmese Citizens
48. Advising OIC to re-brand and repackage the image of Islam
49. Complaining about unfair attitude towards Religious Minorities
50. Myanmar Refugee/Migrant pilot Project Proposal I
51. Myanmar Refugee/Migrant pilot Project Proposal II