Out of the frying pan and into the fire. This is the sorry fate of the Rohingya refugees who flee discrimination in Myanmar, only to face similar conditions in Malaysia.

According to a report by a London-based NGO and a Bangkok university, refugees who escape Myanmar’s Arakan state only face more violence in the hands of traffickers.

In its report published yesterday London-based NGO Equal Rights Trust (ERT) and the Institute for Human Rights and Peace Studies (IHPP) at Mahidol University, Bangkok, said the refugees also lack basic rights in Malaysia and Thailand as they are deemed “illegal” migrants.

“The consequent lack of legal status in both Malaysia and Thailand is central to the discrimination they face in accessing all human rights,” ERT executive director Dimitrina Petrova said.

The report states that unless the status of Rohingya refugees are clarified in these Southeast Asian countries, discrimination will continue for generations to come.

“The resultant vulnerability, insecurity and disadvantage of the Rohingya will continue into the next generation and onto new lands, unless action is taken now,” Petrova said in a statement.

The report notes that the statelessness of the Rohingya children born in Malaysia and Thailand can be resolved by granting them citizenship.

As such, ERT and IHRP called on Malaysia to recognise that Rohingya are entitled to comprehensive protection under international human rights and humanitarian law.

“In particular, we recommend the countries strengthen the substance and implementation of their legal frameworks, take leadership roles and protect and always act in the best interest of the children,” Petrova ( right ) added.

The report is part of a series of multi-year reports by the two organisations.

The mostly Muslim Rohingya are an ethnic minority living in the northern Arakan/Rakine state of western Myanmar, where they face extreme persecution and violence at the hands of the government and the local Myanmar people.

There are an estimated 37,000 Rohingya in Malaysia.