Asean special envoy to Burma, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar's announcement that he will "check the progress of democracy" and "to see what is happening on the ground" is welcomed.

My friend from Burma sees much hope in this development. The atrocities of the ruling junta are well documented by local and international human rights groups. On Nov 27 this year the junta renewed the detention of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for a further six months.

Vang (not his real name) is concerned with the increase in refugee movement out of Burma in recent months. There is every possibility that this may be caused by renewed or increased persecutions of the population at home. Further, Malaysia has no protection in law and in policy for refugees and asylum seekers.

Last week about 15 Burmese were detained allegedly for demonstrating at KLCC at the end of the 11th Asean summit. We mused that the occasion was an excuse to round up undocumented persons who happen to be in the area.

Refugees get arrested and detained all the time. The only difference is that on an eventful day, it gets noticed. He mentioned the difficulty of identifying those detained that day from the 'outside' as some of the Burmese used Thai passports to enter Malaysia and often forgot the Thai name they had assumed. His eyes laughed for a split second.

Burmese have little or no documents because the state does not function. It is ridiculous to demand passports or identity cards or birth certificates. Very few of us can imagine what it must be like for forced migrants.

Maimoun (not her real name) who is here with her incapacitated husband and children ekes a meager living sorting vegetables in a wet market near Gombak. The junta tortures villagers by forcing them to work or carry arms without food and wages. They work until they become ill, useless or die. Escape is the only way out.

"I come to look for peace here in Malaysia, but there is no peace here," she said, referring to the harassment by law enforcers who look to refugees for money every other day.

"I have this dream, that one day I can sail away in a boat to a peaceful place. Will Maimoun live to see this?" she wondered with a sad smile.

Junta road map

Muslim refugees find it harder to be placed in a third country after September 11. Repatriation to Burma means incarceration or death (in custody or otherwise). Refugees left across the border by our immigration officers, invariably make their way back to Malaysia. Going home to Burma is not an option.

The Irrawaddy on-line reports that the National League for Democracy (NLD) wants Syed Hamid to meet the ethnic groups, NLD representatives and party leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratic forces to analyse Burma's political circumstances.

For a long time now Asean governments have been talking to the junta leaders' explanation of its roadmap to democracy. Even humanitarian groups have found that junta map perilous.

In August, the Global Fund which had committed US$100 million to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis pulled out of Burma. This December, the French contingent of Medecin Sans Frontiers is preparing to withdraw from Burma citing difficulties in implementing their programme on treatment of malaria because "of restrictions imposed on our international staff regarding access to villagers".

Like Syed Hamid, we hoped that the Asean mission would be credible.

Dr Mahathir Mohamed, former premier, in Asian-value speak said that demanding Burma to expedite its democracy reform would mean interference in Burma's affairs. Imposing sanctions and forcing Burma "to do certain things was not the Asean way".

Press for Suu Kyi's release

Najib Razak, the deputy prime minister speaking at the Mahathir-inspired Perdana Global Peace Forum said to the effect that each country's situation is circumscribed by their historical, social, economic and cultural conditions.

We seldom hear Najib's take on the state of the world. His concerns are eerily similar to China's views in its White Paper of 1991 (Human Rights in China). Najib appears to be Mahathir's deputy in this. That or he is doing his bit in assuaging China of our good intentions in the midst of China's furore of the treatment of her nationals by law enforcers here.

Syed Hamid is however Asean's and not Malaysia's envoy to Burma. Unfortunately, we know little of Asean's concerns on democracy. Even if Asean democracy is high on electoral democracy alone, Burma has failed this test by denying the electoral mandate given to Suu Kyi in 1990. Asean must press for Suu Kyi's release.

Trading with the junta is not frowned upon by Asian capitalists and its governments. Thailand's premier, Thaksin Shinawatra is a friend to the junta's leaders and they are business partners. We understand that it is business as usual for some Malaysian companies as well.

The UN special envoy to Burma, Razali Ismail, believes that trading with Burma is important so as "not to hurt innocent people". But continued trading with Burma has not brought freedom from fear. It has not brought peace or safety. Nothing is changing on the ground and innocents in unimaginable numbers are forced to flee. We may wonder who in Burma actually benefits from trade.

Trade with Burma now comes with a democracy tag. We should exercise some caution with Asean democracy. The system set in place in most colonised countries in the South arguably limits political freedoms in support of a strong executive to bolster the market rather than democracy.

Rule of law

It is reasonable to assume that Asean leaders (in Malaysia, the party in power has not changed since independence), are familiar with the institutional arrangements which limits freedoms. The rule of law ingrained by imperialist powers in newly independent states in the South allows the state to assume a larger role.

The regime of general rights is undermined by state discretion and discrimination.

When human rights and democracy became conditionalities for trade after the Cold War, these conditionalities in the course of things protect the so-called free market rather than human

rights.

The components of the original facets to the rule of law such as the limits of state power, the broadening of political power of the community through democratic principles and the establishment of the welfare state or development of social justice (to alleviate the social consequences of the market) were not emphasised.

We have no information of the premises or conditionalities of Asean trade with Burma and whether these conditionalities merely serve to strengthen the state and its capitalist elites to the detriment of the peoples' political participation and social welfare.

The other missing agenda in Asean is a concerted plan to the refugee and internally displaced. Let us first be clear that we have a refugee and IDP situation in the region except perhaps for the island republic of Singapore. Singapore does not allow any information out on the matter, although opposition politician Dr Chee Soon Juan in his sojourn in jail for speaking in public without state sanction, chanced to meet forced migrants in prison and he made that public.

Harassed refugees

Malaysia, as many countries in Asean, is not even party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its protocol. Malaysia then becomes highly selective on the refugee question. For example, retired premier Mahathir made continuous headlines about asylum for the 131 Thai nationals in Kelantan while hundreds of refugees including Burmese and Acehnese languish in police and immigration lock-ups and in Semenyih and other detention centres. Thousands of forced migrants in Malaysia are harassed daily on our streets by immigration and police and denied their basic human rights and dignity.

Malaysia does not formally recognise the principle of non-refoulement. We have sent refugees and asylum seekers back to their home countries without regard to the dire consequences that may await them. Often this means death or 'disappearance'.

Malaysia has not developed a formal transparent policy on refugees and forced migrants. Much has been left to civil servants without clear direction and policy. This makes the humanitarian assistance of groups and the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees more arduous as 'official' government decisions become discretionary, selective and personal. We have to assume some real responsibility for the refugee communities in our midst.

Thus when Syed Hamid proceeds to Rangoon or Pyinmana next month on his mission of democracy, we think it is prudent for Malaysia to also examine its human rights record on refugees and other forced migrants in Malaysia.

As for democracy for Burma, we hope and desire for the people of Burma what we ourselves aspire in peace and freedom.