Tenaganita would like to thank the Malaysian government and welcomes the decision that has been agreed by the Indonesian and  Malaysian governments to provide humanitarian assistance by temporarily sheltering almost 7,000 refugees and migrants who have landed and many who are still at the sea.

Sending them back to the sea was never the solution but coming together to work for a meeting to address the problem of the crisis is certainly a step forward for Malaysia as the chair for Asean and as a member of the UN Security Council, as such we applaud Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman and his counterpart from Indonesia, Retno Marsudi.

Tenaganita , once again, urges the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office to take on an important and responsible role in protecting the refugees by resettling them safely and further working with the United Nations, for Myanmar to accept the refugees as their rightful citizens without any form of persecution.

Non -governmental and civil society organisations are ready to give any form of assistance immediately to the Malaysian government in handling this crisis such as shelter, medical aid, documentation of cases and referral for safe repatriations with partner organisations in Bangladesh.

From the interviews conducted it is very clear that the boat people have been cheated, kidnapped, abducted , abused, coerced and exploited by human traffickers, therefore they are victims of human trafficking.

So it is very crucial that the Malaysian government ensure their cases are handled with rights-based approach and victims centered without criminalising them for their undocumented and irregular status. They must be  given immediate protection, they must be legalised and accordingly given employment opportunities as per the recent amendments for the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2010.

We are so happy to hear the commitment and determination from the Malaysian government that necessary actions will be taken against the perpetrators of human trafficking for committing such a heinous crime against humanity.

It is also very important for the Malaysian government to seriously look into the root causes of the influx from Bangladesh as there are clear loopholes in the government-to-government Agreement that in place for migrant workers between Malaysia and Bangladesh. This needs to be addressed immediately because such gaps and loopholes would only allow human traffickers to continue their crimes.

We are looking forward for the government to call on us together with other organisations to work towards saving and protecting the lives of thousands who have landed in Malaysia, thousands who are still at the sea and are victims of human trafficking.

GLORENE A DAS is director, Tenaganita Women’s Force.