Editorial
There was a casual remark made by a friend of ours that Malaysia is not only a multi-racial country but also a multi-racist country where we ‘enjoy’ being racist towards each other of different races and ethnics. What an apt observation!
In relation to that, the recent outbreak of Covid-19 has stoked a rise in xenophobia and racist sentiment, and for the very first time, a significant numbers of the Malaysian social media users ‘wholeheartedly’ come together in unleashing a tsunami of hate, scapegoating and scare-mongering not only against each other but of the Others; the migrants, refugees and foreigners.
Here, through the conversation, we try to better understand the context of the situation through the words of our friend, Hasnah Hussin, a Rohingyan community organizer with Tenaganita pertaining their rights to live, access to education and how can we do better collectively.
MM: Malaysia Muda / HH: Hasnah Hussin
MM: Briefly describe your family background.
HH: I am Hasnah Hussin. I was born in Kemaman, Terengganu and I have five siblings. My parents are from Myanmar; my father is from Maungdaw Township, and my mother is from Sittwe Township, Rakhine State. My father is a religious teacher back in his hometown but worked as a construction worker when he arrived in Malaysia. Mother was an entrepreneur back in Myanmar but worked as a domestic worker when she arrived in Malaysia. My current dad is not my real biological father and I got to know this in 2017. I never saw my biological father as my mother said that my biological father passed away during his journey to Malaysia in Thailand.
At the moment, my mother and father are not working because of their age and health condition, I have a three years old daughter (I’m a single mother). I am supporting my family by volunteering at NGO, Tenaganita as a community mobilizer to promote and protect human rights for migrants, refugees, women, and children.
My childhood is not a desirable experience where I face discrimination and harassment by people around me. I was not able to study because I am a refugee and my parents cannot afford to send me to private school. In 2003, I was selected for a pilot project by the government of which I was allowed to study in a government school to complete my O-Level (SPM). My parents paid different amounts for my school fees because of my status which is much higher than local students. After SPM, I was offered a scholarship to continue my education but it was not being granted because I am not a Malaysian and the scholarship is just for Malaysians. Hence, my formal education journey just stopped after that.
I started working in a different area from a very low position, slowly I built my identity as I am today and I would not be able to do this by myself without my family and friends’ support. If given the opportunity, I would like to study and work at ground level to the policy level to build a better world for all human beings regardless of their status, religion, and ethnicity. I love my work at the moment where I can contribute back to the community with whatever skill I have.
MM: As a refugee yourself, what are the challenges regularly faced in trying to survive in Malaysia?
HH: Born as a refugee is already a challenge for me. Every day, I am facing discrimination and faced harassment by some local extremists which really break me down. As you know, the refugees in Malaysia are not recognized and Malaysia did not sign the UN Refugee convention therefore Refugees in Malaysia have very limited rights. No right to work, no right to education, and the medical costs for those refugees with no valid document will be charged as high as the foreigner fees.
I am braving through with all the discrimination and harassment because those haters are only a minority in Malaysia. I was born and grew up here with the local community who are very caring and helpful. I believe Malaysians are more humane and the haters don’t represent the whole Malaysian. So the journey and struggle continue regardless of the current situation.
MM: Many refugees and migrants have been out of employment, or have not received wages during the Movement Control Order (MCO) issued by the government during the Covid-19 pandemic. How do the communities been surviving during this period?
HH: Refugees and migrants are highly vulnerable during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period because they lost their livelihood and majorities of them do not have savings and a place to depend on. UNHCR is unable to help all the refugees in Malaysia. Refugees and migrant communities run out of food and starving. NGOs like Tenaganita, Refuge for the Refugees, Liga Rakyat Demokratik, and Dapur Jalanan Kuala Lumpur have come together to help and feed the needy. The collaboration between these NGOs brings hope for the communities in need to survive a bit longer. Up to phase 10 of food aid, we have reached out to 36,482 beneficiaries (Refugees, migrants, B40 and daily earner) in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.
The Movement Control Order (MCO) has put a higher level of stress on the communities and this results in issues and inappropriate conditions, such as domestic violence, abuse, harassment, arrest and detention, and their mental and physical health condition has been overlooked by the authorities and government.
Due to the Movement Control Order (MCO), many people with serious illness, especially elderly persons are unable to seek help and their health situation deteriorates each day. In this situation, as a volunteer of Tenaganita, I try to mobilize the community and try to assist them by doing online or on-call counseling. We organize community members to have a support system online (Video Call).
MM: Another traditional notion held in Malaysia is that education can alleviate poverty. While that does not necessarily take into account all other forms of privilege involved, how true does this notion hold for the migrant communities in Malaysia? What access to education do they have, and what barriers lie between alleviating poverty for them?
HH: Refugees and Migrants children do not have the right to education in Malaysia. This also means the communities have to build their school without a proper education system, proper syllabus, neither trained teacher. But the expectation is not to alleviate poverty but to build a better generation. Refugees have no right to work even if they are capable of many things. With proper education, we would be able to contribute back to the host country and society we are living in. It might seem unreasonable for some people to have refugees and migrant children in proper schools, but what are we afraid of?
If we are to talk about privilege, take a five minutes break and think, do refugees or migrant children have any kind of privilege? No, they do not. Refugees and migrant life are really cheap and sometimes of no value. Besides, Malaysia is a country signatory to Convention on the Right of the Child which states parties undertake to ensure the child such protection and care which is necessary for his or her well-being, taking into account the rights and duties of his or her parents, legal guardians, or other individuals legally responsible for him or her, and, to this end, shall take all appropriate legislative and administrative measures. But with the current refugee and migrants situation in Malaysia, I do not see this happening anytime soon.
MM: Organisations like Tenaganita and IWB have recently put out a lot of statistics on domestic violence and abuse – this is directly related to the fact the MCO forces the victims of abuse to spend extensive periods with their abuser. Are there any statistics on domestic abuse amongst migrant communities? What is it that most people don’t understand about migrant communities, their politics, gender roles, and domestic violence?
HH: Because of the MCO, the risks of SGBV (Sexual and Gender-Based Violence) increase but it is under reported because POCs (Person of Concern) are unable to reach out for help and the services are limited for the communities. But those who were able to reach out to us (NGOs), we helped them with the rescue, case management, police report. We do not have the exact statistics of SGBV among refugees and migrant communities.
The local people’s expectation on the refugee and migrants is that they have more privilege and support. For example, if the POC are migrants, they think the embassy will help immediately if they need help but the fact is that the embassy will be only able to help them with limited support (On paperwork most of the time). Not all migrants in Malaysia received support from their embassy. Whatmore for refugees and asylum seekers, UNHCR Malaysia is unable to help everyone because of its limited resources. UNHCR is unable to place the survival of SGBV in safe space immediately because UNHCR will need time to look for safe space by partnering/collaborating with other NGOs.
Malaysia is also a signatory to CEDAW, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, but when the survivors of SGBV comprises of refugees or migrants communities, they will have limited access to justice. There are cases of migrant women who wanted to report abuse to police but she ended up getting arrested because of her documentation status. Also, refugee women arrested right after giving birth to a child because she was unable to pay the hospital bill or of her undocumented status in the country.
MM: There exists a notion that refugees should be seen to be in pitiable, deplorable, and pathetic conditions, even in their host countries, to be worthy of help or charity. Do you believe that notion is prevalent?
HH: Refugees in Malaysia are working on their own risk of arrest and detention, they know they will get arrested if the authorities find them working. They are capable of many things, they are resilient and skilled in different fields. Refugees seeking refugees in Malaysia because they don’t have an option, they want to save themselves and their family. Refugees can contribute back to society and the host country if given the opportunity. Coming back to the question, Refugees need the right to work, they do not need charity, we do not want to be a burden to anyone but how to continue our life if we cannot work?
MM: Alongside that notion is the belief some hold that refugees shouldn’t be helped when there are Malaysians who are poor or homeless – that we should leave helping refugees to developed countries and that helping refugees is a financial burden. Yet, at the same time, for an industrial nation, we import labour for every major industry, paying millions in agency fees. Are refugees a financial burden who should be ‘helped’ last?
HH: As mentioned earlier, refugees are not supported financially by any organization. They work on their own risk to survive. The government has a financial burden if refugees are arrested for working because the government has to feed them in prison and detention camps. Refugees should be supported and allowed to help the country’s economy and society, not merely as a charity program.
MM: In your opinion, what would be your wish list of amendments to laws which should most urgently be amended concerning the refugees and stateless communities in Malaysia?
HH: I hope policymaker see the urgent need of the refugees need in three aspects:
● Right to work
● Right to quality education
● Affordable health care services
The main and most urgent need would be the right to work for the refugee community so that the refugee community can contribute to the host country by filling the gap of labor in different sectors. By doing so, the community might have the opportunity to live a decent and valuable life while supporting the family and community.
MM: Aside from the law, what else could be done, or should be better understood by Malaysian society about refugees and stateless individuals?
HH: The best way to understand someone, a community, a culture or the situation is by being with the right person; to listen and share genuine story and facts on refugees. (It is vital) getting to know the background of a community before generalizing a community.
Refugees and migrants should be a subject / topic to study in school from primary school and onward for the children to understand the different communities in society. Awareness programs like talk shows or debates should be held for the public with the local and refugees on the stage to answer questions in a proper and better manner, locals can use this opportunity to ask questions and clear their curiosity regarding the refugee communities in Malaysia.
The local and refugees community should have interaction in their daily life to understand each other. By isolating the refugee communities, we will only build more barriers. At least by communicating, we will be able to build bridges and to understand to create a better world for us and our generation.
All this only be possible if the Malaysian government takes the policies for refugees seriously. Without the commitment by the government, refugee communities and our generation will continue to live in limbo because we have no idea about our future.
Information: The painting is a work by Syarifah Nadhirah.