Rohingya in Malaysia: 2013

Wednesday, 17 July 2013

Protection of Refugees in Islam: Pluralistic and Inclusive

Dr. Muhammad Nur Manuty

Director, Centre for Studies of Modernity and Civil Society

Former President, Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM)

Introduction

One of the most tragic events in the world today is the aggravating problems among world refugees. What is the position of Islam toward refugees? Are they protected? This paper will focus on some principles in the Qur’an, Sunnah and Sirah of the Prophet. Later, we will examine the role of Malaysian NGOs in protecting the rights of refugees. Finally, some of the concerned issues will be discussed.

Some Fundamental Principles in the Qur’an and Sunnah

Islam is a universal religion par-excellence. As a universal religion, Islam honors humankind from different races, tribes and colors. The Qur’an says:

“O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other. Verily the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things).”[1]

This is addressed to all mankind and not only to the Muslim brotherhood. Yusuf al-Qardawi, a distinguished contemporary Islamic scholar distinguishes two types of fraternity in Islam, namely the fraternity of man (al-ikha’ al-Insani) and religious fraternity (al-ikha’ al-dini), both of which are recognized in the Qur’an (al-Hujurat: 10). Further, al-Qardawi opines the level of fraternity among Muslims does not deny the significance of another level of fraternity, namely, the wider fraternity of man. The two should in fact be seen as complementary, and not contradictory with one another.[2]

The principle of the universality of Islam is one of the firm Islamic principles. It is, in fact, the immutable basis upon which the relation of Muslims with followers of other revealed religions is grounded. It is also the source of the Islam’s outlook on interaction with non-Muslims. The faith of a Muslim is only complete when he believes in all the Messengers, without distinction. This humane dimension gives to the Islamic concept of tolerance a broader scope. Almighty Allah says:

"And He sent down the Law (of Moses) and the Gospel (of Jesus) before this, as a guide to mankind, and He sent down the Criterion (of Judgment between right wrong)". [3]

Such humane tolerance, set by Islam as a firm groundwork for the relations of Muslims with non-Muslims, must not be construed as a desertion, or a predisposition to dissolve into any entity even if inconsistent with the essence of this religion. Tolerance does not abrogate differences; it rather builds bases for knitting sound humanitarian relations much willed by Islam. Affirmation of ideological, civilizational and cultural specificities cannot in any way be renounced. Yet, Islam does not want these specificities to preclude mutual acquaintance and close cooperation among peoples and nations.[4]

Islam is the religion of justice (al-‘adl). Here, the Qur’an tells us:

“O you believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor. For Allah can best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest you swerve, and if ye distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily Allah is well acquainted with all that ye do.”[5]

Having illustrated some fundamental verses of the Qur’an, it becomes imperative to mention one particular verse which refers to the question of refugees. The Qur’an states:

“And if any of those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God seeks thy protection, grant him protection, so that he might (be able to) hear the word of God (from thee); and there upon convey him to a place where he can feel secure; this, because they (may be) people who (sin only because they) do not know (the truth).”[6]

It is interesting to analyze how the Qur’an uses the word Istijara (i.e. seeking jiwar) literally neighborliness: A metaphorical expression denoting a request for protection and Ijara (i.e. the granting or extending of such protection to one who seeks or requests it). In this connection, Professor Muddathir argues that Islam accepts some tribal/cultural aspects of the pre-Islamic Arab tradition such as Ijara and Istijara because both of these traditions are in consonance with the Islamic tradition.[7] Hence, the Qur’an asserts that “And if any of those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God seeks thy protection, grant him protection…”

All you can do is pray - HRW

The deadly violence that erupted between ethnic Arakanese Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in early June 2012 in Burma’s Arakan State began as sectarian clashes in four townships. When violence resumed in October, it engulfed nine more townships and became a coordinated campaign to forcibly relocate or remove the state’s Muslims.

The October attacks were against Rohingya and Kaman Muslim communities and were organized, incited, and committed by local Arakanese political party operatives, the Buddhist monkhood, and ordinary Arakanese, at times directly supported by state security forces. Rohingya men, women, and children were killed, some were buried in mass graves, and their villages and neighborhoods were razed. While the state security forces in some instances intervened to prevent violence and protect fleeing Muslims, more frequently they stood aside during attacks or directly supported the assailants, committing killings and other abuses. In the months since the violence, the Burmese government of President Thein Sein has taken no serious steps to hold accountable those responsible or to prevent future outbreaks of violence.

The violence since June displaced at least 125,000 Rohingya and other Muslims, and a smaller number of Arakanese, to internally displaced person (IDP) camps. Many of the displaced Muslims have been living in overcrowded camps that lack adequate food, shelter, water and sanitation, and medical care. Security forces in some areas have provided protection to displaced Muslims, but more typically they have acted as their jailers, preventing access to markets, livelihoods, and humanitarian assistance, for which many are in desperate need.

Refugees and Refugee Policy in Malaysia

Amarjit Kaur, School of Economics
University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351, Australia
E-mail: akaur@une.edu.au

During the last three decades, Malaysia has increasingly relied on the employment of a cheaper and more readily available less-skilled foreign labour force from within the Asian region.Officially-regulated recruitment exchanges have been accompanied by unwanted irregular movements that include refugee flows provoked by political and economic instability within the region. Since migration is entwined with the matter of citizenship and the construal of rights to an individual by the government of a state, irregular movements have become a major domestic and international political issue in the region. This has resulted in evolving border control policies and more stringent immigration controls. Moreover, while less-skilled migrant workers have largely been reduced to a marginal and semi-marginal existence in the country, official policy towards irregular migrants and refugees has been tempered by issues of ethnicity and racism and has been both brutal and harsh.

Apart from the Philippines and Cambodia, Malaysia and the other Southeast Asian states do not have legislation that provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in accordance with the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol; nor have they established a system for providing protection to refugees. Malaysia does not provide protection against refoulement either but generally does not deport individuals recognised as persons of concern by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Nevertheless, while the government continues to cooperate with UNHCR and normally does not impede other humanitarian organisationsfrom assisting refugees and asylum seekers, human rights concerns are not central to the politics and policies of the state’srefugee policy. The future is thus bleak for refugeesin Malaysia...more

Rohingya refugees streaming to Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - When 27-year-old Najumul Haq took to sea for the first time, he left behind all that he had ever known.

Najumul is a Rohingya, born in Myanmar. For years, his family had run a sundry shop in the town of Maungdaw, on the country's western coast close to the border with Bangladesh.

"As soon as I got on board, the brokers took away my money and my phone … anything valuable."
- Najumul Haq, Rohingya refugee

But after the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman in June triggered a new wave of violence against the minority Rohingya - who are denied citizenship by Myanmar's government and have suffered decades of discrimination - the store was ransacked and Najumul's two brothers were detained. Fearing for his life, he fled.

Inside Story - Why is the world ignoring Myanmar's Rohingya?

They have been persecuted and discriminated against for decades but few can even pronounce their name let alone know their plight. The UN describes them as one of the most persecuted minorities, yet the suffering of Myanmar's Rohingya population increases. So are the world's democracies ignoring their plight? Guests: Justin Wintle, Brad Adams, Mohamed Nour, Dina Madani.

Thursday, 13 June 2013

Myanmar: UN expert urges Government to act on local regulations targeting Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State

GENEVA (31 May 2013) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana, today said that the Government must respond unambiguously to the revival of a local order limiting the number of children that Rohingya Muslims can have to two. Contraventions can result in fines and prison sentences under section 188 of the Myanmar Penal Code.

“This local order in the Northern Rakhine State townships of Buthidaung and Maungdaw is a clear-cut human rights violation targeting a particular ethnic and religious group,” Mr. Ojea Quintana said. “The Central Government must provide an unequivocal response.”

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which Myanmar has ratified together with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, obliges state parties to respect and protect the right of women and men ‘to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children and to have access to the information, education and means to enable them to exercise these rights.’ Also, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has called on the Government not to restrict the number of children of Rohingya people.

Forced back to sea to die, trafficked & sold, now shot at by Navy, Rohingyas escape violence in Burma, only to meet violence once again here.

A leading human rights group on Wednesday accused Thai navy personnel of shooting at least two Rohingya asylum seekers and called on the government to investigate the incident.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said that Thai sailors on Feb 22 opened fire on a group of Rohingya refugees from neighbouring Myanmar after forcing them onto a boat being sent back to sea in Phang Nga province, 600 kilometres south-west of Bangkok.

At least two were killed after they jumped off the boat and attempted to swim back to shore, Human Rights Watch said, citing testimony from Thai villagers and Rohingya survivors.

In a desperate attempt to sneak into Thailand and cross over to Malaysia to seek asylum, many stateless Rohingya Muslim families from Myanmar’s Arakan state have booked seats on illegal ferries.
Over the past few years, during autumn and winter, when the sea is calmer, Rohingya men have regularly taken ferries operated by Bangladesh-based people smugglers to reach Thailand and then go overland to Malaysia to work illegally and support their families back home.

Now, however, many Rohingya men are planning to take their wives and children along. "With my brothers and my wives and our five children, we are set to take the boat for Thailand, with the hope that finally we will get shelter in Malaysia," Mr Faizullah, a cloth trader from a village near Maungdaw in Rakhine state told DW over the phone.

"Many other Rohingya families are also planning to flee Myanmar the same way. Persecution is increasing day by day. Life for all of us is extremely unsafe here."