f i f t y r e f u g e e s M a l a y s i a

GENERAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION

See what Wikipedia says about Refugees says (lots of background info and history)

Refugees, a Question and Answer page from UNHCR (the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees). ‘can a criminal be a refugee?‘ , ‘who decides who is a refugee?’ and other very interesting questions.

Amnesty International has a Library where you can search for latest releases by country, if you want to find out human rights related news

If you want to learn more about the various ethnic groups covered in this website, Wikipedia has postings for most of them (and in these postings there are further useful links), such as

1) the various ethnicities in Myanmar Chin State, Kachin State, Mon State, Rakhine (Arakan) State, Shan State,

2) Refugees from other countries such as Iranian Kurdistan and Sri Lankan Tamils

SPECIFIC INFORMATION ON MALAYSIA AND REFUGEES

UNHCR’s page for Malaysia has its latest press releases

2006 Refugee Survey Malaysia done by US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants – short readable report covering several topics – protection, detention/access to courts, freedom, right to work, and education

“We are worth nothing” – Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Malaysia, a 2007 report by the International Medical NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres – the culmination of 2.5 years of providing medical and mental health care to refugees in Malaysia

Joint Statement by 14 Local NGOs on World Refugee Day 2007. Includes a summary of current status and treatment of refugees in Malaysia (arrest and detention, whipping, lack of education etc), and recommendations therefrom

There are a few press statements in 2007 by International NGOs, such as Refugees International (Malaysia: Government Must Stop Abuse of Burmese Refugees and Asylum Seekers), Human Rights Watch (Malaysia: Disband Abusive Volunteer Corps : Government Uses RELA Force on Migrant Workers). These give an indication of what has been going on in Malaysia not just in 2007, but over the past several years.

Also, there is an article titled “A Growing Source of Fear for Migrants in Malaysia” from the New York Times (with a slideshow) which echoes the usual problems and fears faced by migrants in general but refugees in particular.