MAY 24 — Forcibly displaced migrants are not a new enigma for Malaysia. Many disparate groups – mainly from our neighbouring countries, some from as far away as the Middle East and South Asia – have come to Malaysia for decades. While some use Malaysia as a transit to their ultimate destinations, others are here because it is the only place they can flee to, from often dire circumstances.
The reality that Malaysia is now not just a transit country but a destination for refugees and asylum seekers might not be entirely welcomed by Malaysia, but it is one that cannot be ignored. This applies especially to the Rohingya, among the world’s most persecuted peoples.
Yet national policies to these groups remain inconsistent at best, making them subject to arbitrary application of laws. More recently, ugly waves of xenophobia have put these already vulnerable groups in even more precarious circumstances.
It is imperative for current cabinet to put in place a more humanitarian and equitable approach towards refugees and asylum seekers. These policy changes should be both for those already in Malaysia and those who will inevitably make their way here.
The year started ominously on the refugee front in Southeast Asia, where from late last year, where several boats of refugees were lost or stranded in the Andaman Sea. While close to 200 were rescued by Acehnese fisherman, hundreds more were believed to have died adrift at sea, with regional governments taking no action whatsoever.
This is not a trend that will change anytime soon as increasingly deplorable conditions in Myanmar and in refugee camps in Bangladesh mean that the flow of refugees to Southeast Asia is expected to be particularly heavy in 2023. UNHCR has already warned that attempted crossings which could be verified had increased six-fold throughout the first 11 months of 2022, even during rough seas.
Domestically, things aren’t looking much better with refugees under severe legal, social and economic strains. Nothing exemplifies the sorry state of affairs than the case of Amanullah Kalamia, a Rohingya refugee withdrawing his judicial review application after the Immigration Department released his five children late last year from a detention and deportation order, after his wife who was in custody, died in July 2022. That a refugee father would need to pursue legal action against the government who continued to detain his children, most who are minors, after their mother died in custody, is appalling.
Yet any change, even if it had backing from the cabinet, will not be easy. The last two political coalitions that governed since March 2020 had sanctioned some of the harshest policies towards these vulnerable groups. In some instances, pandemic mitigation measures were utilised as both means and justification. Additionally, in a political environment with an influential opposition undermining the ruling coalition and seeking to return to power at any cost, any such efforts which could be seen as “going soft” on refugees will likely be politicised.
More crucially, even those elected policymakers with the intentions to push for a more humane policy toward refugees will have to contend against a bureaucracy, especially in the Home Affairs Ministry, which has entrenched notions on these groups and have doubled down on a securitise-and-nothing-else approach.
Yet even increased draconian approaches haven’t deterred further arrivals and the people smugglers that facilitate them. They will continue to come, and all we are doing by pushing them out to sea is knowingly condemning vulnerable people to a horrific death.
So how can our political decision makers approach this? There are three important and low-hanging fruits that can be considered.
First, the government needs to renew its efforts to work with international agencies present in Malaysia – the UNHCR, IOM, ICRC – and an assortment of NGOs to not just come up with comprehensive policy reforms but to secure fundings from global sources to better manage these groups. These efforts can include collaborative efforts to create a more transparent and comprehensive database on refugees and asylum seekers present in Malaysia, which is important for security considerations as well.
Second, consideration ought to be given to allowing refugees to work legally in Malaysia and be given due protection under the law. Refugees already work in an assortment of jobs in Malaysia, formalising this will allow them to better fend for themselves and their families. The call by the Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir, for refugee and stateless children to be given access to formal public education, ought to be heeded by all. Crucially, these policy changes will cumulatively equip them with the skills that will help resettlement to third countries.
Third, there must be a determined and holistic approach to addressing growing sentiments of xenophobia and disinformation towards refugees among various sections of the population. This is a worrying trend that the government needs to address, not ride on in their efforts to further crack down on refugees.
The fact is that while there will always be economic migrants to Malaysia through irregular channels, an overwhelming number of refugees are here not because they are forced to flee their homes. Perhaps exposing younger Malaysians in schools to the challenges and circumstances of these refugees, which are already undertaken by some international and private schools and faith-based youth organisations, might be a pathway to consider.
Some in the policymaking circles often speak of making “hard choices” on the question of how Malaysia manages foreigners who have been forcibly displaced and end up in Malaysia for the long term. Yet our inconsistent and blemished record shows that the hard choice in this case seems to be formalising more humane approaches to refugees. It is disturbingly easier to continue to treat them as a national security threat, or an unwanted presence in Malaysia, which then excuses the crackdowns, detentions, xenophobia and other forms of extrajudicial pressure they come under.
Managing refugees in Malaysia humanely isn’t a binary choice. Legitimate national, security and sovereignty concerns are not incompatible with decency and humanity.
*Thomas Daniel is a senior fellow with the Institute of Strategic & International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia.
**This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
