Oregenal News From
By Mohd Haikal Mohd Isa KULAIJAYA, Feb 27 (Bernama) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is urged to expedite the relocation process for about 15,000 Rohingya refugees in Malaysia to third countries.Community Rohingya Islam Pro-Democracy Organisation (CRIPDO) president, Mustafa Kamal Abu Basir said, the long-standing problem of resettlement for the refugees had persisted for years without a solution."We (Rohingya refugees) don't want to stay in Malaysia much longer. We have agreed to be relocated to other third countries willing to accept us."We ask that the UNHCR office in Kuala Lumpur find an immediate solution to our problem so that we and our children can start a new life," he told Bernama in an interview today.CRIPDO is one of several organisations formed by Rohingya refugees in Malaysia to care for the welfare of these refugees from Myanmar.According to Mustafa, the official number of Muslim Rohingya refugees in Malaysia was 15,000, but the real figure might exceed 21,000, including new arrivals in the country.He said the number of Rohingya refugees in the country was small compared to about two million in Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia, 150,000 in Thailand and hundreds of thousands in India and other middle-east countries.Although he was thankful for the concern shown by the Malaysian government, Mustafa said the refugees continued to experience various pressure while in this country."Rohingya refugees in Malaysia are not allowed to work and our children aren't allowed to go to school. How can we bear the costs of living if we don't work," he said.He said because of this, some of the refugees got involved in criminal and immoral activities to support their family.Their situation had become worse, he said, because the refugee card issued by the UNHCR office in Kuala Lumpur was not recognised by local authorities in Malaysia.Mustafa claimed that this had resulted in many of the Rohingya refugees to be detained by the authorities in illegal immigrants detention centres before being deported."We are refugees, not illegal immigrants. If we are sent back home we will be killed (by Myanmar military). Have pity on us," he said, adding that he had been arrested 18 times by Malaysian authorities during his 25 years in the country.He said the Rohingyas were an ethnic minority in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar. Home for them was a part of the Arakan state in the western reaches of the military-ruled Myanmar.Having been denied the rights as a Myanmar citizen, the Rohingya people in Arakan faced oppression and hardship including killings by the country's military regime, claimed Mustafa."This has caused thousands of Rohingyas in Arakan to flee by boat to Ranong or Mae Sot in Thailand, before starting their mainland journey to the Malaysian border," he said.-- BERNAMA
