Working for refugee rights

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia will undertake a joint exercise for the first time with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to register refugees and asylum seekers to ensure better protection for them.
The move, expected to take off in January, involves some 94,800 refugees and asylum-seekers whose status is already confirmed by the UNHCR in Malaysia.
The inclusion of their biodata within a government database is expected to lead to greater protection for the refugees, said UNHCR representative Alan Vernon, particularly against arrest and detention as their identities could then be easily verified by law enforcement officials.
“This will also help prevent prosecution of persons holding UNHCR documents for immigration offences or deportation. It will also help address the problem of fraudulent UNHCR identification cards,” Vernon said in a statement yesterday.
The exercise will be carried out progressively in major cities where the refugees are located.
The effort involves the Home and Foreign ministries, the Immigration Department, the National Security Council and the UNHCR.

Data from the refugee agency shows that most of the refugees registered with the UNHCR here are from Myanmar, numbering 87,000 persons or about 90% of the total asylum-seeker population in the country.
Others who have sought refuge in Malaysia are Sri Lankans (4,200), Somalis (1,000), Iraqis (720) and Afghans (440).
The data, last updated in September, shows that some 71% of refugees and asylum-seekers are men. Children also make up a significant part of the refugee community, numbering 19,200.
However, a large number of asylum-seekers are believed to be unregistered.
Vernon said the exercise would be separate from the Home Ministry’s ongoing 6P programme involving illegal immigrants.
The six-step programme, which comprises registration, legalisation, amnesty, supervision, enforcement and deportation has seen – as of last week – a total of 25,561 illegal immigrants being granted amnesty and leaving the country.
“While Malaysia is not yet a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, UNHCR very much appreciates the cooperation we enjoy with the Malaysian Government and look forward to continuing discussions on how to strengthen refugee protection in Malaysia, including creating opportunities for legal work for refugees as well as enhanced access to education and health services,” Vernon added.
The issue came to surface recently after the Malaysia-Australia refugee swap deal was shelved last month.
The majority of lawmakers in Australia were against legislation that would have enabled Australia to send 800 new boat arrivals to Malaysia in return for Australia resettling 4,000 registered refugees from Kuala Lumpur.

Income tax officer collects double tax from owners of old vehicles in Maungdaw

Maungdaw, Arakan State: The income tax officer has been collecting double tax from the owners of old vehicles in Maungdaw since October 31, said a vehicle owner.
“The new civilianized government had announced a policy for vehicle owners hand over old vehicles to the authorities, and the owners would then be issued a permit to import a new vehicle. But in Maungdaw and Buthidaung, most of the owners of old vehicles are members of the Rohingya community and are not able to hand over the old vehicles in Akyab (Sittwe) because of restrictions to their movements,” the source explained.
“Therefore, the old vehicles’ owners from northern Arakan State sold their old vehicles to members of the Rakhine community from Akyab who are working on this business.”
The Maungdaw income tax office issued a letter to all owners of old vehicles to meet an officer on 31 October. At the meeting, Assistant Income Tax Officer Sein Shin asked the owners who sold their vehicles to pay sales tax, said an officer from the income tax office of Maungdaw.
“Sales tax was already paid by the Rakhines who bought the vehicles from Rohingya owners and paid tax in Akyab before they handed over the vehicles to the authorities to get a permit to import a new vehicle.”
“Usually the sales tax is paid by buyer, not the seller.”
Now the Maungdaw income tax officer is asking for more sales tax from Rohingya vehicle owners, which has made the Rohingya community uneasy in their business, said an old businessman from Maungdaw.
“The old vehicles are very old – some were used in World War II, and the Rohingya are keeping these kind of vehicles for transport in northern Arakan.”

Body of boatperson found offshore from Teknaf

Teknaf, Bangladesh: The dead body of a boatperson was found offshore of Shaplapur by police of Bahar Sara, Teknaf, on 1 November, said a fisherman from the locality.
“A dead body floating in the sea was seen in the morning by local fishermen who informed the police station.”
Upon being informed, the policemen rushed to the spot and recovered the dead body, according to police.
“The dead body was sent to the government hospital of Cox’s Bazar for an autopsy.”
On 31 October, a group of sixty boatpeople returned to Bangladesh after water began entering into their boat and they felt that it was very risky for their lives if they continued their journey to Malaysia, said one of the returnees.
Of them, twenty-five boatpeople were arrested by police, while the others ran way.

Nasaka collects money for sacrificial cattle

Maungdaw, Arakan State: Burma’s border security force (Nasaka), has been collecting money from villagers transporting sacrificial cattle to markets to sell in Maungdaw Township since 1 November, said an elder from the village who declined to be named.
“A group of Nasaka personnel from Nari Bill outpost camp, under the Nasaka area No. 6 of Maungdaw Township, goes to a bridge from which villagers have to cross to go to other places, villages, or markets. From this point, the Nasaka collects Kyat 8,000 per head of cattle when villagers try to pass.”
“They also rob the villagers who cross the bridge even when they do not find any fault. The Nasaka wants money from the Rohingya community no matter what the pretense.”
Eid-ul-Azha (a great festival for Muslim people) will be celebrated on 1 November. The Rohingya villagers are busy buying and selling cattle in advance of the festival. They want to bring cattle from one place to another after crossing the said bridge. Taking advantage of this situation, the said Nasaka personnel are collecting money from the cattle traders, owners, and buyers illegally. The vilalgers have already paid money to the concerned authorities as a tax, said a local cattle trader on condition of anonymity.
According to villagers, the price of the cattle has skyrocketed this year compared to last year due to the scarcity of sacrificial animals.
The Maungdaw Administration Office ordered the Rohingya community to set up a market for their sacrificial animals between Myothugyi Village and the Three Miles Station, which is far from Maungdaw Town. Therefore, town dwellers are facing difficulties in buying animals for the sacrificial festival. Last year, the market was set up near Myoma Kayandan Village, which is only one mile away from Maungdaw, said an elder from Maungdaw.

US envoy makes second Burma visit

 

Washington’s new envoy to Burma arrived in the Southeast Asian country on Monday for his second visit in two months, aiming to further the US strategy of engagement.
Derek Mitchell, who was appointed as the first US coordinator for policy on Burma in August, met the foreign affairs minister in the capital Naypyidaw during the two-day visit, Burma officials told AFP.
“Ambassador Mitchell plans to visit Burma frequently to build on our ongoing principled engagement, including dialogue with the Burmese government and local stakeholders,” said a US embassy spokeswoman in Rangoon.
“He uses every opportunity to raise with Burmese authorities our longstanding core concerns,” she said, adding that these included the release of all political prisoners and dialogue with opposition and ethnic minority groups.
Mitchell, a veteran policymaker on Asia, said this month that Burma’s nominally civilian government was showing “encouraging signs” of change but must commit to deeper reforms and halt violence against minorities if it wants sanctions eased.
He said that the freeing of more than 200 political prisoners in mid-October was welcome, but that more needed to be done for Burma to prove it was serious about a transition to democracy.
In addition to the prisoner release, officials in Burma have spoken out about curbing censorship and recently defied ally China by freezing work on an unpopular dam — moves few would have imagined a year ago.
Mitchell’s first visit in September included talks with ministers of the new government and opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
His post was created when Congress, under then-president George W. Bush, approved a law on Burma in 2008 that tightened sanctions against the country, but the position was not filled at the time due to a political dispute.
After taking power in 2009, President Barack Obama’s administration changed tack, concluding that the sanctions aimed at isolating Burma had been ineffective.

Suu Kyi meets govt amid talk of return

Aung San Suu Kyi and Labour Minister Aung Kyi speak to reporters after their meeting in Rangoon (Reuters)

Aung San Suu Kyi held her fourth set of talks with Burma’s labour minister since the new government came to power in March amid speculation that she will reregister her National League for Democracy as a political party.
The opposition leader met with Aung Kyi on Sunday afternoon at a government guesthouse in Rangoon. In keeping with past meetings, few specific details have been released, although a statement after the session said the two discussed peace among ethnic groups and the release of political prisoners, as well as ongoing reforms to the country’s beleaguered economy.
Not long after a meeting in September, during which Suu Kyi urged the government to release political prisoners, an amnesty was announced that saw nearly 240 jailed activist and politicians freed.
Aung Kyi said yesterday that the government “will not stop” releasing prisoners, implying that another amnesty may be on the cards soon. As always, however, it remains mute on the fate of the nearly 1,700 inmates jailed for political activities. The government denies that it holds political prisoners.

Rumours are also circulating that Suu Kyi will attempt to reregister her party after it was disbanded earlier this year, paving the way for her official re-entry to Burma’s political arena after years spent on the sidelines.
Legal amendments have been approved that would allow the National League for Democracy to become a party again and its members able to contest for parliamentary seats in the looming by-elections, although Suu Kyi remains wary of committing herself.
The party was dissolved after it chose not to compete in last year’s elections, given that Suu Kyi, as a former prisoner, would be unable to run for office. But one of the amendments will overturn a ban on parties being recognised unless they contested three seats in the elections.
She told a press conference on Sunday however that the NLD would not make a decision until it had seen the small print accompanying the new law.
The 66-year-old also netted a result in a protracted legal battle against three individuals, including her brother Aung San Oo, whom she is suing for contempt of court.
Rangoon’s High Court accepted a lawsuit filed by Suu Kyi over an interview with Aung San Oo in the Monitor News Journal in which he claimed to have won a court case relating to a dispute over the University Avenue house where she was kept under house arrest, and which he claims ownership of.
The journal’s chief editor, Myat Khine, and the journal’s publisher, Wunna Kyaw Htin Hla Myint, are also subjects of the lawsuit.

Two killed by Arakan lightning strike

Location of Mrauk-U township in western Burma, where the accident took place (Google Maps)

Six people were knocked unconscious after a lightning bolt hit a farm hut in Arakan state earlier this month, two of whom died from their injuries.
The freak accident occurred in Watkamauk village outside Mrauk-U township on 19 October. The local hospital confirmed the two fatalities.
The six had reportedly been sitting inside the hut when a heavy storm hit the region.
“The lightning struck at 4.45pm and there were six people in the hut at the time. All of them were knocked out and four of them regained consciousness around 6pm or 7pm but they found the other two dead, as well as a buffalo and a cow,” said a local monk.
Bodies of the deceased were sent to Mrauk-U hospital that evening and doctors confirmed the cause of death as being struck by lightning. They were buried at Minthakyun cemetery in Mrauk-U.
On the same day a landslide in nearby Khitechaung village swept away a number of houses. “So far three bodies have been buried – apparently at least 50 people were killed. Now locals in the village are searching for more bodies,” said the monk.
Despite the deaths there, Arakan state was comparatively unscathed by the storm, which arrived from Bangladesh and last week caused havoc in Magwe division. Heavy flooding resulted in the deaths of more than 200 people, and caused widespread damage in several towns.