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| Photo: VOCR |
Kuala Lumpur (VOCR) 21 Oct: The planned detainees swap deal between Myanmar and Malaysia is vastly causing shockwave among the Burmese refugee communities. The oppressed ethnic minorities from the tyrannical and undemocratic Myanmar make up the largest number of refugees according to the figure of the Malaysia UNHCR office, in which out of the population Chins are apparently the highest numbers.
The announcement came one day after the state-run newspaper The STAR announced Monday that there will be a major crackdown starting from the first week of next month, November in which it prompted that recognized and asylum seekers, to some extent, will surely be harmed, too.
According to the two Chin advocates communities, ACR (Alliance of Chin Refugee and) and CRC (Chin Refugee Committee), it is learnt that they have more than ten thousands asylum seekers who are still unregistered. Among them, dozens of people had been experiencing being forced to do immigration biometric registration, which is known as 6P programme, by their employees due to the possible fine would be punished against them by the authority before the start of major crackdown.
Malaysia Home minister Hishammuddin Hussein announced this week after meeting with Myanmar deputy foreign minister U Maung Myint that there had been an agreement in principal regardless of the swap deal which is designed to send the unspecified number, maybe, nearly 1,000 Myanmar citizens held in 13 depots across the country and Myanmar military-dominated government in exchange will send Malaysian detainees back to the country.
It is learnt that Myanmar refugees and asylum seekers will not be included in the swap deal implemented by the M’sia and Myanmar.
The move is believed to curb the overcrowding detainee population in the region.
Soon after, several NGOs, Health Equity Initiatives (HEI), Lawyers for Liberty (LFL), Women’s Aid Organization (WAO), Tenaganita, SUARAM and Malaysian Social Research Institute (MSRI) lauded to the government that the exchange program should be halted immediately in light of a needing protection for refugees and asylum seekers according to their statement which reads “Concerns over immigration related developments that jeopardize the security of refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia”, adding that they also call on the government to rectify the errors in the 6P registration process of refugees/asylum seekers and fully cooperate with UNHCR to establish a framework for the recognition of the rights of refugees.
In a meeting between a group of representatives from local NGOs and Alan Vernon a representative of Malaysia UNHCR office including several high rank officers, Mr. Alan Vernon mentioned that they have no idea how to work on the coming major crackdown but admitting that there will be a big problem for refugees.
Upon 6P programme, it is worrying to learn that U Maung Myint, foreign deputy minister of Myanmar requested for an extension of the registration period of 6P programme on which his intention and purpose of urging Putrajaya government to go ahead with immigration biometric system is fully doubted for refugees and asylum seekers. The 6P programme comprises the six components; registration, legalization, amnesty, monitoring, enforcement and deportation.
On point of refugees’ view, it is doubtful that thousands of recognised refugees would possibly be included in this subtle swap deal as it is common that recognized refugees have been detained and threatened to be deported back to the country in detention centers.
It was such a great shame that Myanmar is planning to implement such perilous deal with Malaysia whilst the Naypyidaw government is intensively fighting in great force against the ethnic minorities that include Kachin, Shan and Karen, currently.
Meanwhile, amidst Myanmar regime is working on this controversial deal, raping, forced labor, forcibly portering and extra-judicial killings are adamantly rampant in Kachin state as is a result of their kind of systematic ethnic cleansing program purportedly exercised against the ethnic minorities based on our race, ethnicity and religion.
Reporting by Simon
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