Over 75 Burmese refugees left homeless in Malaysia

Mizzima News
January 25, 2008

New Delhi - At least 75 Burmese refugees have been rendered homeless after the Malaysian government-backed volunteer corps, RELA, raided their homes in Putra Jaya and burnt down their make-shift camp, a Human Rights group said.

The Chin Human Rights Organization today said the 75 Burmese refugees, belonging to the Zomi tribe of Chin ethnics, are left wandering in the jungles near Kuala Lumpur after the RELA stormed their campsite in the morning of January 20.

"Nothing is left for any of them. Nobody knows what they should do, where they should go for shelter, how they can overcome this...They are left with nothing," the CHRO cited a Zomi Chin leader, who recently visited the residents and their burnt out campsite, as saying.

CHRO said the incident was the latest of many well-documented acts of abuse committed by the authorities against the refugee community in Malaysia.

"We really don't understand why they [the RELA] are angry and what they want but what they do is very abusive, very harmful for the refugee communities and it is not the first time," Amy Alexander, Regional Advocacy and Campaigns Officer of CHRO said.

According to the CHRO, there are at least 23,000 Chin refugees out of about half a million Burmese refugees and they live in constant fear of being arrested, tortured and deported to Burma, from which they have fled in fear of government persecution.

While the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, does take the initiative to provide protection, even the small number of UNHCR recognized refugees are not spared by the baton-wielding RELA, the CHRO said.

"Not only the refugees who do not have UNHCR certificates, but also people who have certificates are facing the same problems. But the UNHCR document can help them at least get released from the detention camps. So the refugees need help from UNHCR," Alexander said.

According to the Malaysian Chin Refugee Committee, there are at least nine make-shift camps in the jungles of Putra Jaya, where hundreds of Chin refugees are hiding from the authorities.

However, Salai Khen Sang, the spokesperson of CRC, said with the RELA supposed to take charge of security of all the camps, from February 15, "the situation for refugees will be worse than in the past."

The only hope for Burmese refugees is to be recognized by the UNHCR and to be re-settled as soon as possible, Alexander said.

"There is only one way to help these people. They [UNHCR] should reopen general registration and every one can access UNHCR for protection and be able to resettle as soon as they can. Then we hope the situation will be processed," Alexander said.