The Immigration Crackdown Begins

Kuala Lumpur (VOCR) 21 Nov: The immigration operation over refugees and asylum seekers has been arresting and detaining recognized refugees in a wide sweep across Malaysia. According to reports received from Chin community, the areas that have recently been concentrated on are, Seremban City, Negeri Sembilan State, the eastern part of Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh City, Kedah State, the northern part of Kuala Lumpur and Kepong, the suburban area of Kuala Lumpur, Selangor State.

In the ten total arrests that VOCR could get the details of, six Chin refugees were nabbed in Seremban City and all of them were directly sent to Lenggeng immigration detention center. Among six arrestees, including one woman, only two are registered refugees with the office of UNHCR. Although there is hope for their release soon, the rest will be facing indefinite detention and need the immediate intervention of UNHCR. A man who is still unregistered and was arrested in Ipoh city is now being detained in Lengkap immigration detention center.

Three people, including one woman, captured in Kepong, the suburban area of Kuala Lumpur are currently being detained in Seri Hatamas Jalan Duta Desa Immigration complex lockup. They will be in court in a few days and the authorities will call on the UNHCR office in an attempt to check whether they are of genuine refugees.

The immigration authority in the raids obviously question people arrested whether or not they did fingerprinting in 6p programme in the past few months. Of all arrestees, they are just yet to be done with it in the near future. The programme is slated to start in early of 2012 but it is prompted for the time being that many people both recognised refugee and asylum seeker will possibly be swept over as the crackdown is already commenced.

One of the community volunteers from the Chin Refugee Committee in Kuala Lumpur believes it is certain that they will sooner or later be sent to a detention center and perhaps face months of detention.

“By learning the areas targeted,” he added, “the immigration authorities start raiding restaurants which they believe are dominated by Myanmar refugees and migrant workers.”  

With the immigration crackdown beginning, the Chin community fears for the displacement of thousands of family members still waiting in queue for registration from the office of the UNHCR. 

Meanwhile, registration with the UNHCR office based on family relationships for the purposes of family reunification continues to move incredibly slow, a situation creating both fear and panic among thousands of refugees in Malaysia.

Reporting by Simon

Chin Asylum-Seeker Murdered at the Hands of Burmese National

Source: googlemap

Cameroon Highlands (VOCR) 18 Nov: An asylum seeker of the Chin State named Geik Law Kha was severely beaten up in a fight that occurred at last Wednesday’s night in Batu 49 camp, where hundreds of Chin refugees live. Geik Law Kha was beaten by a Burmese migrant worker with a passport, known as Tin Lin, and proclaimed dead yesterday morning in Ipoh general hospital, in the Perak state. 

It was learned that he was a holder of an ACR card (means a member of Alliance of Chin Refugee) and from Mindat Township, Chin state.

The cause of the incident that took place last night remains a mystery.

The murderer was arrested after a search effort lasting the whole night, said Billy Tong Hmung, coordinator of Chin Highland Community recently set up with the support of Social Protect Funds (SPF) which is under the UNHCR office.

In an interview with the VOCR, the community leader added that Tin Lin, the murderer, is currently under an intensive investigation of authorities in the Cameroon Highlands police force. The case is being kept confidential and has yet to be revealed to us. However, it was believed that Tin Lin could be incarcerated for up to 10 years in depots.

Recently, the community in Cameroon Highlands is highly concerned that there might possibly bring about the retaliation fight from our fellow Chins, said one of the community leaders.

Asked how many Burmese migrant workers work in the area, CHC's leaders estimate that there are around 30.

For the record, more than 1,500 Chins, both recognized refugees and asylum seekers, are living in Cameroon Highlands, seen as the sole producer of vegetables and fruits for the mainland, Malaysia and Singapore. Most of the people work in vegetable farms and are paid less than RM-25 a day, which is only equivalent to $8.

To date, refugees and asylum seekers working in Cameroon Highlands have been hiding in the jungle every night, for fear of the unceasing raids monitored by the authorities.

Apparently, this is not an uncommon situation facing Chin refugees and asylum seekers. Murder at the hands of Burmese nationals occurs with alarming frequency. In Malaysia, since 2005, the figure of Chins murdered at the hands of Burmese migrant workers is believed to total at more than a dozen in number, according to one community leader in Kuala Lumpur.

Reporting by Simon

Biometric Registration System Introduced for Refugees in 2012: Group of NGOs Worry over the Upcoming Crackdown

Kuala Lumpur (VOCR) 06 Nov: In addressing the situation of refugees anywhere in the world, it is impossible to ignore the political conditions of the host country. The entire population of registered refugees in Malaysia will thus be introduced to a new biometric registration system in early of 2012. The new system will replace the previous impromptu scanning system, according to Mr. Alan Vernon, who spoke during the monthly refugee community meeting with UNHCR in the Chinese Assembly hall on November 4, 2011.

ALAN VERNON, UNHCR representative in Malaysia

Mr. Alan Vernon is currently a representative of the UNHCR office in Malaysia. During the meeting, he clearly explained to refugee community leaders that the prior 6p amnesty programme was only aimed at illegal migrant workers and was not intended for refugees and asylum seekers. He added that the UNHCR office in Malaysia has been progressive in talks with the government on this 6p programme, especially in terms of changing controversial words on the registration paper, which in the earlier paper contained the phrase “Tujuan: Pulang Ke Negara Asal” (Intention: Return to Home Country). This phrase created much confusion and fear among refugees—as they held an erroneous perception that refugees and asylum seekers might possibly get deported back to their home country. 

However, it is still uncertain whether asylum seekers yet to be registered with the office of UNHCR will be involved in the forthcoming 6p registration programme in 2012, as the programme is aimed at registering refugees already recognized by the office of UNHCR. 

“For now, it is a pain-easing process, and a crystal clear solution for us brought by Mr. Alan Vernon,” reported one of Chin community leaders present in the meeting.

In response to questions raised by community leaders, however, regarding the plan of registration for new arrivals during the lengthy meeting, Vernon stated that there is no plan currently, but possibilities are being considered and proposed to the UNHCR headquarters in Geneva. No further details have been made available at this time.  

It was also emphasized during the meeting that UNHCR in Malaysia is on alert to rescue those who have been detained in depots, promising that UNCHR registration is prioritized for current detainees and particularly those who are sick.  

Sample of  a letter issued in 6P registration.

According to Vernon, recognized refugees will likely be safe from the upcoming crackdown, the start of which remains unknown to the public at large. Currently, refugees in Malaysia grow ever more apprehensive of the upcoming raids, as newspaper reports and their observations of real life tend to conflict. 

At the same day, a number of NGOs, groups which work tirelessly for refugee organizations and act as liaisons with the government, conducted a training and expressing that they are greatly concerned over the upcoming raids, and for the unnecessary use of force on the refugees, said one of the lawyers in the meeting.  Lawyers from said NGOs last Thursday trained dozens of volunteers from Myanmar refugee organizations, especially on techniques for coping with problems such as extortion among the police and other government authorized personnel.

Sadly, many Chin communities were financially affected during the week-long 6p registration programme in Putrajaya, the political capital city of Malaysia, and transportation was provided by the community. During the registration in Putrajaya immigration office, thousands were done registering within the week. Weeks later, the UNHCR requested that copies of registration papers be submitted back to the UNHCR office throughout communities.

However, no compensation was made or offered by UNHCR office despite the loss of a huge amount of many communities’ money. “It was a total waste of our money—gaining only our perspiration and loss of energy,” said one of Chin community leaders who requested to remain anonymous. He added that the way the UNHCR took action against us in that situation was very negative and wrong; “It is a small kind of discrimination.”

Written by Simon and editing by Natalie Reagan