COMMENT | Refugees - racial scapegoats for our own failures

COMMENT | It’s ironic for Malaysia to send 5,000 refugees back to potential harm in Myanmar while championing Palestinians. 

Sadly, I’ve noticed that both Malays and non-Malays online are prejudiced against Rohingyas, the most prominent refugee group.

Some complained of their littering, spitting red betel nut paste, and packing people into flats. Others talk of illegal activities. 

But I do wonder what refugees fleeing war and famine in 19th-century China were like when they arrived in Malaya? They too were crammed into tight quarters and joined secret societies while opium dens and brothels operated nearby.

Spitting? The Rohingyas may be guilty of that, but up to the 1970s in Kuala Lumpur, I remember that kopitiam tables had “tam toong” or spittoons underneath.

Littering? Of course, Malaysians are not innocent either. What I’m saying is we should not be so quick to point the finger at others before looking at ourselves, or our past.

Why import more workers?

Malaysians progressed thanks to education. But sadly, refugees are denied entry into our public schools and must depend on NGO-run tuition centres.

Malaysia claims it cannot support refugees. Yet Madani boasts that our economy is doing so well and thus must keep on importing migrant workers. It doesn’t add up.

Why not instead let refugees work legally since they are already here? Imagine hiring a refugee as a maid or factory worker without paying exorbitant fees to intermediaries. 

Isn’t that better than importing migrant workers and enriching labour agencies with “cables”? How’s that for real reformasi?

Or maybe we’re really poor. Fine, why not send back Indonesian or Bangladeshi workers whose lives won’t be in danger at home? Instead, we keep bringing them in.

I would argue that if we reduce our deep-seated corruption, there is more than enough for everybody - including refugees.

To paraphrase Mahatma Gandhi, we have more than enough for everyone’s needs, but not for everyone’s greed.

Real refugee dangers

The 5,000 refugees will face real dangers after they are pushed back to Myanmar via “voluntary repatriation”, a prime example of Orwellian doublespeak.

In late June, more than 160 Malaysian and foreign NGOs urged Putrajaya not to deport them, citing severe risks of forced conscription to fight the ongoing civil war. Doctors Without Borders has highlighted this too.

Actually, the best warning of the dangers is from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim himself.

When the Myanmar civil war was just one year old in 2023, the New Straits Times quoted him telling the United Nations General Assembly, “The continued atrocities must end… The barbarism and depravity inflicted upon the people of Myanmar is indefensible.”

The civil war continues to rage, but Mr Madani has forgotten his own words. So why did our prime minister invite the brutal general and junta leader Min Aung Hlaing for tea in Malaysia? What deal did they make?

Anwar explained to Channel News Asia, “I invited him because… we can be friends and trade. We can accept Myanmar, but they must accept (its refugees) back.” 

Meanwhile, the situation has worsened in Myanmar. The government can no longer send Rohingyas back to their original villages in Rakhine state. 

Firstly, the rebel Arakan Army has conquered most of the state. But sadly, they have also committed atrocities against Rohingyas, according to Human Rights Watch.

Secondly, many Rohingya villages have been reportedly burnt and bulldozed (which is why they fled overseas). In other words, they really have no “home” left.

Another basic question is: Why does Myanmar want to accept Rohingyas back when its own 1982 Citizenship Law revoked their citizenship rights? 

This suggests that the military regime may recruit the men to fight the ongoing civil war or use them as forced labour. For young women, other horrors may befall them.

Manufactured anger?

Yet it’s hard to get racialised Malaysians to care about refugees. For non-Malays, many feel local discrimination and so have little sympathy for Muslim refugees.

Perhaps many have forgotten that our ancestors were once also refugees fleeing famine and war. And if racial relations worsen in future, will we again have to move elsewhere?

In the past, Malays welcomed fellow Muslims escaping strife in Pattani, Aceh, and Mindanao. In 2016, Umno and PAS even held the massive “Himpunan Solidariti Ummah” for Rohingyas at the KL Titiwangsa Stadium. This was to protest the violence against the community in Myanmar.

But the mood now has been poisoned by what looks like an organised hate campaign. In May this year, online outrage erupted after claims that some Rohingyas had failed to dispose of animal waste properly after Hari Raya Haji.

Then on June 1, a so-called “President Rohingya Malaysia” supposedly “laid claim” to Selayang, Selangor. A poster of the false news was shared by Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s daughter, Nurulhidayah, and was then debunked by Malaysiakini.

Next, on June 2, a so-called Instagram account called “arakanprince_” talked about kicking out Malays from the country. The global news agency AFP revealed that the Instagram post was bogus.

These claims are so far-fetched - who would believe them anyway? But on social media, sensational stories and outrage travel much faster and further than the boring truth. This “anger-tainment” is also what fuels racial politics in Malaysia.

In June, 23 NGOs lamented that false claims of Rohingya refugees demanding citizenship and political power were deliberately manufactured and amplified on social media to incite fear and hostility.

Who is provoking?

Who is behind this? The answer, as usual, is to ask, “Cui Bono”, a Latin phrase that means “who benefits?”.

This suggests quarters that may be anxious to distract from corruption scandals or economic problems. There’s nothing like an “external enemy” to divert attention, is there?

There are also signs of political figures and individuals with political links contributing to the rhetoric.

Zahid’s daughter, for instance, has been accused of fanning the flames of misinformation, while a local influencer whose Facebook profile displayed links to Umno, Fhairul Fizzy’s “Skuad Langar” (Shock Squad), has confronted refugees.

A member of the group kicked over a Rohingya betel stall, even though the seller was packing up to go, as a recent viral video highlighted by Focus Malaysia revealed.

What about Anwar? 

“Embattled and fighting for his political survival ahead of the next general elections… Anwar’s current stance on Rohingyas smacks of politics in the face of strong public resentment,” wrote journalist Amy Chew.

She explained that Rohingyas are seen by some as “stealing” jobs and businesses amid the rising cost of living, even though they take on rough work shunned by locals.

If this is correct, then Anwar is drifting along with the political tide as usual, rather than taking a brave moral stand.

It also shows that the fancy economic growth numbers trumpeted by Madani have not been felt by people on the ground, as economist Sum Dek Joe explained to the Malay Mail. 

This is a failure of our economic model, with poor education, political parasites, and capitalist domination resulting in little real growth for people.

The same problems in the United States fuelled the rise of Donald Trump, as he cunningly blamed Muslims, African Americans, and Latinos for the pain of the white working class, rather than the greedy corporate titans who sent jobs overseas.

Here, the fruits of growth have not reached many of the poor, making it easy to provoke them with hate campaigns. And so the weakest people - refugees - are made the scapegoats, rather than the real culprits above.

ANDREW SIA is a veteran journalist who likes teh tarik khau kurang manis. You are welcome to give him ideas to brew at tehtarik@gmail.com.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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