How do we treat refugees in Malaysia?

24 Nov 2014

332

What do you all make of this Al Jazeera video clip?

We are justifiably concerned about Palestinians who are displaced. But why is there little concern for the displaced Rohingya and other refugees and stateless people on our soil?

First of all, we need to ratify the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. Why have we not ratified this treaty when 145 other countries are already state parties to the treaty? And let’s not forget the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) (1976))

Look at this list. Where are we?

STATUS AS AT : 23-11-2014 06:45:37 EDT

CHAPTER V

REFUGEES AND STATELESS PERSONS

2 . Convention relating to the Status of Refugees

Geneva, 28 July 1951

Entry into force

22 April 1954, in accordance with article 43.

Registration

22 April 1954, No. 2545

Status

Signatories : 19. Parties : 145

Text

United Nations, Treaty Series , vol. 189, p. 137.

Note

The Convention was adopted by the United Nations Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Status of Refugees and Stateless Persons, held at Geneva from 2 to 25 July 1951. The Conference was convened pursuant to resolution 429 (V)¹, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 14 December 1950.

Participant	Signature	Accession(a), Succession(d), Ratification
Afghanistan		30 Aug 2005 a
Albania		18 Aug 1992 a
Algeria		21 Feb 1963 d
Angola		23 Jun 1981 a
Antigua and Barbuda		7 Sep 1995 a
Argentina		15 Nov 1961 a
Armenia		6 Jul 1993 a
Australia		22 Jan 1954 a
Austria	28 Jul 1951	1 Nov 1954
Azerbaijan		12 Feb 1993 a
Bahamas		15 Sep 1993 a
Belarus		23 Aug 2001 a
Belgium	28 Jul 1951	22 Jul 1953
Belize		27 Jun 1990 a
Benin		4 Apr 1962 d
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)		9 Feb 1982 a
Bosnia and Herzegovina ²		1 Sep 1993 d
Botswana		6 Jan 1969 a
Brazil	15 Jul 1952	16 Nov 1960
Bulgaria		12 May 1993 a
Burkina Faso		18 Jun 1980 a
Burundi		19 Jul 1963 a
Cambodia		15 Oct 1992 a
Cameroon		23 Oct 1961 d
Canada		4 Jun 1969 a
Central African Republic		4 Sep 1962 d
Chad		19 Aug 1981 a
Chile		28 Jan 1972 a
China 3		24 Sep 1982 a
Colombia	28 Jul 1951	10 Oct 1961
Congo		15 Oct 1962 d
Costa Rica		28 Mar 1978 a
Côte d’Ivoire		8 Dec 1961 d
Croatia ²		12 Oct 1992 d
Cyprus		16 May 1963 d
Czech Republic ⁴		11 May 1993 d
Democratic Republic of the Congo		19 Jul 1965 a
Denmark	28 Jul 1951	4 Dec 1952
Djibouti		9 Aug 1977 d
Dominica		17 Feb 1994 a
Dominican Republic		4 Jan 1978 a
Ecuador		17 Aug 1955 a
Egypt		22 May 1981 a
El Salvador		28 Apr 1983 a
Equatorial Guinea		7 Feb 1986 a
Estonia		10 Apr 1997 a
Ethiopia		10 Nov 1969 a
Fiji		12 Jun 1972 d
Finland		10 Oct 1968 a
France	11 Sep 1952	23 Jun 1954
Gabon		27 Apr 1964 a
Gambia		7 Sep 1966 d
Georgia		9 Aug 1999 a
Germany ^{5, 6}	19 Nov 1951	1 Dec 1953
Ghana		18 Mar 1963 a
Greece	10 Apr 1952	5 Apr 1960
Guatemala		22 Sep 1983 a
Guinea		28 Dec 1965 d
Guinea-Bissau		11 Feb 1976 a
Haiti		25 Sep 1984 a
Holy See	21 May 1952	15 Mar 1956
Honduras		23 Mar 1992 a
Hungary		14 Mar 1989 a
Iceland		30 Nov 1955 a
Iran (Islamic Republic of)		28 Jul 1976 a
Ireland		29 Nov 1956 a
Israel	1 Aug 1951	1 Oct 1954
Italy	23 Jul 1952	15 Nov 1954
Jamaica		30 Jul 1964 d
Japan		3 Oct 1981 a
Kazakhstan		15 Jan 1999 a
Kenya		16 May 1966 a
Kyrgyzstan		8 Oct 1996 a
Latvia		31 Jul 1997 a
Lesotho		14 May 1981 a
Liberia		15 Oct 1964 a
Liechtenstein	28 Jul 1951	8 Mar 1957
Lithuania		28 Apr 1997 a
Luxembourg	28 Jul 1951	23 Jul 1953
Madagascar		18 Dec 1967 a
Malawi		10 Dec 1987 a
Mali		2 Feb 1973 d
Malta		17 Jun 1971 a
Mauritania		5 May 1987 a
Mexico		7 Jun 2000 a
Monaco		18 May 1954 a
Montenegro		10 Oct 2006 d
Morocco		7 Nov 1956 d
Mozambique		16 Dec 1983 a
Namibia		17 Feb 1995 a
Nauru		28 Jun 2011 a
Netherlands	28 Jul 1951	3 May 1956
New Zealand		30 Jun 1960 a
Nicaragua		28 Mar 1980 a
Niger		25 Aug 1961 d
Nigeria		23 Oct 1967 a
Norway	28 Jul 1951	23 Mar 1953
Panama		2 Aug 1978 a
Papua New Guinea		17 Jul 1986 a
Paraguay		1 Apr 1970 a
Peru		21 Dec 1964 a
Philippines		22 Jul 1981 a
Poland		27 Sep 1991 a
Portugal 3		22 Dec 1960 a
Republic of Korea		3 Dec 1992 a
Republic of Moldova		31 Jan 2002 a
Romania		7 Aug 1991 a
Russian Federation		2 Feb 1993 a
Rwanda		3 Jan 1980 a
Samoa		21 Sep 1988 a
Sao Tome and Principe		1 Feb 1978 a
Senegal		2 May 1963 d
Serbia ²		12 Mar 2001 d
Seychelles		23 Apr 1980 a
Sierra Leone		22 May 1981 a
Slovakia ⁴		4 Feb 1993 d
Slovenia ²		6 Jul 1992 d
Solomon Islands		28 Feb 1995 a
Somalia		10 Oct 1978 a
South Africa		12 Jan 1996 a
Spain		14 Aug 1978 a
St. Kitts and Nevis		1 Feb 2002 a
St. Vincent and the Grenadines		3 Nov 1993 a
Sudan		22 Feb 1974 a
Suriname ⁷		29 Nov 1978 d
Swaziland		14 Feb 2000 a
Sweden	28 Jul 1951	26 Oct 1954
Switzerland	28 Jul 1951	21 Jan 1955
Tajikistan		7 Dec 1993 a
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia ²		18 Jan 1994 d
Timor-Leste		7 May 2003 a
Togo		27 Feb 1962 d
Trinidad and Tobago		10 Nov 2000 a
Tunisia		24 Oct 1957 d
Turkey	24 Aug 1951	30 Mar 1962
Turkmenistan		2 Mar 1998 a
Tuvalu ⁸		7 Mar 1986 d
Uganda		27 Sep 1976 a
Ukraine ⁹		10 Jun 2002 a
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	28 Jul 1951	11 Mar 1954
United Republic of Tanzania		12 May 1964 a
Uruguay		22 Sep 1970 a
Yemen ¹⁰		18 Jan 1980 a
Zambia		24 Sep 1969 d
Zimbabwe		25 Aug 1981 a

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Ananars

29 Nov 2014 8.29am

Before talking of how do we treat the refugees, we should asking how we treat foreign workers. Remember the tiger driver working for up to 12 hours as maid, driver and errand boy for only 1500 per month and left to rot in jail if not for Huan

Wee Chin

26 Nov 2014 11.20am

Malaysia Underage Sex Trade Documentary – Trapped
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7O18kcn-54

An exposé of the dark underbelly of Kuala Lumpur, where underage girls from other Asian countries work in the sex trade — some of their own choice, others brutalized victims held as virtual prisoners. This documentary speaks with some of the girls, as well as police, social workers and psychologists. Produced and directed by Mahi Ramakrishnan and Rian Maelzer.

gk ong

25 Nov 2014 1.31pm

Anil should report on the salient points that are to be raised in the coming Umno General Assembly, as they will indicate the direction of BN in the coming years leading to GE14.

26 Nov 2014 12.35pm

Reply to gk ong

Salient Point:
Malaysia’s affirmative action policies the past 40 years have created a culture of dependency, corruption and racial envy among the malays. Most Bumiputera were still trapped in the low-income group although economic growth had reached 6.3% – one of the highest in Asia.

Conclusion: BN has failed in its NEP. Time for change. ABU!

johanKhunPana

25 Nov 2014 6.12am

The actual video is titled as Malaysia’s unwanted.
Attached is the youtube link –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdV3sj76vnA

Author

Anil Netto

25 Nov 2014 9.17am

Reply to johanKhunPana

Thanks. Will replace it.

unomasia

24 Nov 2014 9.09pm

They are said to be coming in at around 1000 persons per day – just the refugees! How do they all find the UN office? If they are not welcome, why are they allowed in? Yes, the usual excuses. UN even has armies fighting rebels in some countries. Here, it seems they did not even have money for even a computer until recently, let alone enough staff. If they are on their way to other countries, why are they not processed in Thailand? Some refugees apparently wait for years to be “processed”. All very suspicious. Those allegedly exploiting these people… Read more »

tunglang

25 Nov 2014 9.57am

Reply to unomasia

The problem with refugees & illegals is that it (appears to be) a ready cash-cow for those who have authorities, those who have access to immigration loop-holes & ‘agents’ of slaves.
It is alleged that for some refugees in detention, just making a call home costs a great deal of money. Now this is evil in our presence which should be rid of for good.
We fight for human rights at UN, why can’t we fight the scums of human trafficking + slavery in Malaysia.
Cakap-cakap di UN tak serupa bikin.

Phua Kai Lit

24 Nov 2014 3.00pm

Rohingyas (Muslims from Burma who are of Bengali descent) — Burma does not want them. Bangladesh does not want them.

24 Nov 2014 2.42pm

Is Anil or Pakatan trying to justify how cruel our govt is.

UN Observer

24 Nov 2014 2.04pm

Interesting that Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Brunei have not ratified the treaty as well. That is most of ASEAN. So Malaysia is in good company!