The Rohingya Refugee Crisis in Southeast Asia

Dear readers, This is one of my assignments for Global Studies unit which I took in Monash. Please read on: The issue of refugee is prevalent in Malaysia. The Rohingyas are an ethnic minority who escaped to Bangladesh and Malaysia in the beginning of 1990s (Cheung, 2011). The term “Rohingya” is most commonly refer to Muslims who come from Northern Rakhine State which was once known as Arakan in Myanmar who structured a racial, lexical and an outnumbered groups of religious people who had been subjected to various times of affliction and were forced to displacement (Cheung, 2011). These historical displacement phases which began with the Burmese attack of Arakan and Arakanese’s banishment in 1784 and later superseded by arrival and armed trial in the age of British colonial from 1824 to 1948 as well as additional dislocation after independence. This has led to the argument for the Myanmar government to describe Rohingya as illegal immigrants and it is compulsory for them to leave the country on some occasions. Myanmar was once called “Burma” and today Myanmar is perceived as being at the stage of democracy, the latest Eldorado with Western contributions and visitors filling in the previous hermit kingdom (Singh, 2014). According to Ullah (2016), the term “Rohingya” is also a historical name for the Muslim Arakanese. The ancient name for Rakhine State was Rohang from which the concept of Rohingya was adopted and presently, the word “Rohingya” has become governmentally assessed (Ullah, 2016). This position paper will mostly take on the supporting viewpoints of why the Malaysian government should allow Rohingya refugees to stay in our country due to human rights as well as religious and moral aspects despite of the challenges Malaysia is facing when taking in boat people. Firstly, the reason why Malaysia should care for the Rohingyas is because they have been in Malaysia for awhile (Daniel, 2016). As human beings, we need to care for one another especially the Rohingya refugees who have taken the efffort to spend large sums of money to come to Malaysia. They are seeking for protection from war which might endanger their lives and they have come so far. The Rohingyas are humans too. Therefore, as citizens of Malaysia, I strongly encourage Malaysia to take them in since we want to be a caring and loving society. This also determines our moral conducts as we empathise the Rohingyas and religions teach us to do good too. Rohingyas are an apparent and important part of undocumented immigrants in Malaysia (Daniel, 2016). They live in Malaysia with wider communities in and in the area of Kuala Lumpur as well as in other states such as Johor, Kedah, Penang, Kelantan and Terengganu. Majority of the Rohingyas have been in Malaysia for years and generations and are able to converse well in the national language and familiar with Malaysian cultures (Daniel, 2016). Figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) show there are at least 40,000 Rohingyas in Malaysia (Daniel, 2016). A rise in figure are families who ran away to escape from cruelty in Rakhine state. A 2014 report revealed that almost a quarter of Rohingyas in Malaysia are children and there are thousands more that the UNHCR, local aid organisations and governments have no information about (Daniel, 2016). Those Rohingyas play a role in Malaysia’s unofficial economy that relies profoundly on inexpensive job industry that communities avoid. Majority of females and children beg at walkways and traffic lights. The second reason why Malaysia should accept Rohingyas is there will be more of them likely coming to settle in this country (Daniel, 2016). For majority of boat people escaping for economic or political reasons, Malaysia is a preferred place for both short and long period of times for settlement. Malaysia is so far a peaceful and harmonious country and most of the Rohingyas find our country a comfortable place to stay. Thus, not many of the Rohingyas have decided to resettle in the West. There are numerous reasons for this such as Malaysia is quite nearby, the people are friendly, Malaysia is a rich country with many resources, Malaysia’s reliance on inexpensive labour, having the company of families and societies and a trust that they would be accepted as fellow Muslims and able to consolidate with each other well (Daniel, 2016). Most of the approximate two million Rohingyas in Bangladesh and Myanmar who suffer outrageous situations are ready to endanger their lives to arrive Malaysia. They are not keen to proceed or stay anywhere else in the region. As neighbouring countries understand this issue, they have been taking the initiative to assist on boats bound for Malaysia, not desiring to deal with the duties and amount of detaining them. Malaysia provides at least some small chances for Rohingya immigrants (Buckley, 2015). Refugees from Myanmar who have arrived in Malaysia find life better than the affliction and marginalisation they escaped from. Determining by the difficulties the previous refugees face, it will be complicated for the recent wave to either set up a safe ledge or to obtain migration in another place (Buckley, 2015). According to Mohammed Noor, the managing director of Rohingya Vision Television, an online news service based in Kuala Lumpur, “From a country, we have become stateless, and as refugees, we have become stateless again.” “We’re a floating people now, floating everywhere without any hope, without any papers.” (Buckley, 2015). Thirdly, caring for and determining the answer to the dilemma of Rohingyas is the correct actions to do (Daniel, 2016). The wickedness and dislocation are not occurring in a far corner of the world. This is occurring in our backyard and their affliction and shift are a sensitive, hurting physically as well as confusing point for Asean particularly as it shows progress onwards as a community. Thus far, it seems that not much is done. Even usage of the concept Rohingya is disputed in formal meetings. As an establishing nation and accountable Asean representative, Malaysians ought to be conscious of main social, political and economic matters striking other Asean members, particularly with such dimensions of humanitarian. Each individual should be aware that this is not Malaysia’s first post-independence experience with the groups’ coming of undocumented refugees. For the previous 40 years, Malaysia has become a place for refugees to look for either short-term or long-term shelter even though it is not a celebration to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol. Malaysia has worked with other countries to seek political solution at the beginning of the refugee issue. Rohingyas who came from Southern Philippines have stayed in Sabah which has contributed to the complicated racial, religious, governmental, communal, financial as well as safety condition. Malaysia as a nation is experiencing the course of nation development and regulating the relationships between ethnicity and religion. The flow of the recent racial particularly in large figures will have important and enduring economic, political, social, cultural and security impacts to Malaysia’s future make-up (Daniel, 2016). This essay will not be complete without explaining the opposing view of the argument, which is the negative side of taking in the Rohingyas. Opposing views claim that Malaysia is unwilling to receive more Rohingyas due to crisis that deteriorates (Al Jazeera, 2015). Malaysia has been persistent in rejecting more immigrants who are abandoned on boats off Southeast Asia’s shores regardless of increasing international tension. The Southeast Asian nation was in prominent communications with its neighbours to rectify the refugee dilemma subsequently boats holding more than 2,000 immigrants, including majority Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshis who arrived in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand (Al Jazeera, 2015). According to Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, Malaysia does not have enough financial support to receive more refugees as many of them has been staying here and other countries are not willing to accept them (Al Jazeera, 2015). Aman also stated that we have to see our challenges such as social and safety problems and take into account to rectify the problems and has further requested for Myanmar to take part to come up with a solution (Al Jazeera, 2015). The UN has urged Southeast Asian nations to respect global laws during an increasing humanitarian pressure (the guardian, 2015). According to Malaysian deputy home minister Wan Junaidi Jafaar, Malaysians have been treating those refugees well with humanity but we cannot accept more and we have to transmit the correct message that they are not received here (the guardian, 2015). Thailand Prime Minister also mentioned that the government does not have resources to support refugees and if they are allowed to come, all the refugees will be free to come to Thailand and it is not fair for the residents (the guardian, 2015). Furthermore, the Rohingya refugee crisis also causes domestic problems for Malaysia as the rising presence of them may deteriorate the economic, political and social challenges related to illegal migrants in Malaysia (Xiong, 2015). The Home Affairs Ministry has revealed that health and safety issues could increase as a consequence. In conclusion, I strongly support the view that Malaysia should take in more Rohingyas given the reasons that has been explained. It is true that there are challenges when the government take this action. However, those challenges can be resolved if the government is willing to work cooperatively with the public. Refugees have their rights too and we need to understand the challenges they are going through. (Word count: 1545)