5 changes of govt, but little has changed for refugees

 

Refugees find even odd jobs difficult to come by, says Agha Andul Sattar, a social mobiliser and community developer.

PETALING JAYA: Six years after a government announcement on allowing refugees to work, Agha Andul Sattar and other refugees continue to live in despair.

Agha was hopeful that change was finally on the horizon when the Barisan Nasional government announced a pilot plan for refugees to work in 2017.

But five changes of governments later, nothing has changed.

“We have been living in fear and uncertainty for years, hoping for improvement in our situation, only to be disappointed time and time again,” he told FMT.

Last month, deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof said the government is reviewing the possibility of allowing refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia to work temporarily in the plantation sector as a way to overcome a worker shortage.

Agha Andul Sattar.

But Agha said he is not optimistic. Numerous proposals, including from the Malaysian Employers Federation, to allow the refugees in Malaysia to work have not materialised.

Agha, a social mobiliser and community developer at NGO North-South Initiative, said even odd jobs were difficult to come by while some employers do not pay fair wages to refugees.

He called for more efforts to include refugees in the workforce and to combat discrimination.

“Provide us with the support and protection that we deserve. We are human beings too, and we deserve to live with dignity and respect,” he said.

Kai Sian Pau, a refugee from the Chin community in Myanmar, said the lives of refugees and asylum seekers have not improved under the Anwar Ibrahim government.

Pakatan Harapan, which Anwar leads, has in the past promised to ratify the United Nations convention on refugees, which outlines refugees’ rights, including the right to work.

“If refugees and asylum seekers are permitted to work, exploitation and employment conflicts can be reduced,” said Kai.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Malaysia, there are about 183,000 refugees and asylum seekers in the country, 85% of whom are from Myanmar, including some 103,000 Rohingya. - FMT