A delegation of opposition MPs bearing humanitarian aid have been turned away at the Belantik Immigration Depot today where over 1,000 refugees are held.

 

Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim said the group, accompanied by members of an NGO, arrived at the camp in Sik, Kedah at 2.30pm today but they were not allowed inside the facility.

 

He said the supplies brought there by five activists of the Penang Stop Human Trafficking Campaign will be handed over to a local NGO with the hope that it would have better luck in getting to the refugees.

 

These include water and dry foods, as well as crayons for the children.

 

Previously, Reuters had reported that the police have detained 1,018 refugees after they landed in Langkawi on three boats on Monday, comprising 555 Bangladeshis and 463 Rohingya persons.

 

This includes 99 women and 54 children. Sim said the detainees are now being held at Belantik.

 

Apart from the Sim and the NGO, those present were Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari, Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto, and Penang Island municipal councillor Syerleena Abd Rashid.

 

Sim ( photo ) told Malaysiakini that aside from bringing humanitarian aid, the delegation aimed to find out what aid the refugees need, and study the situation ahead of Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s emergency motion in Parliament to debate the refugee crisis.

 

“There are many people out there who have voiced their concerns for the refugees. Members of the public have called us asking what they can do. Our network of people who previously contributed to the Kelantan flood disaster (relief) wanted to do something.

 

“Everyone wanted to do something but none of us know what to do, so we came here to look (at the issue) from a humanitarian angle.

 

“Secondly, we want to understand the plight of the Rohingya so when the emergency motion comes to the Parliament next week, we will be able to present a clearer picture,” he told Malaysiakini when contacted today.

                                                           

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) office estimates that some 25,000 Royingya and Bangladeshis had boarded people smugglers’ boats in the first quarter of this year, which is twice as many as the same period last year.

 

Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand have been turning away boats from their waters.

 

Sim lamented that Malaysian and other Asean governments have taken an indifferent approach to the Rohingya refugee crisis, which he said is Malaysia’s worst refugee crisis since the Vietnam boat peoples of the late 1970s.

 

“They (the Malaysian government) have to take ownership of the situation. Now there are over 1,000 on our shores, and 8,000 to 10,000 more in no-man’s-land at sea.

 

“This is a humanitarian crisis. A crisis centre should be set up with agencies such as the Maritime Enforcement Agency and the Royal Malaysian Navy to deal with refugees.

 

“Malaysia will lose our moral standing to talk about the Palestinian issue if we continue to ignore lives which are at stake,” he said.

 

He also expressed disappointment that the delegation was not allowed to visit the camp, adding that he and Zairil ( photo ) had just returned from visiting much larger Syrian refugee camps in Jordan and were allowed free access.

 

He said the delegation had informed the Immigration Department via email ahead of the visit, although there was no reply.

 

Meanwhile in a joint statement, Sim, Zairil and Kasthuri urged the government to step in to avert a humanitarian crisis, saying that turning them away would be akin to sending them to certain doom.

 

Lack consistency

 

They said that Malaysia lacks laws and procedures for dealing with refugees, resulting in a lack of consistency in handling the issue.

 

While the Rohingya refugees languish as sea, 350 Muslim Bosnians fleeing ethnic cleansing had been granted asylum and given government assistance in the 1990s.

 

Prior to that, 10,000 Muslim Cambodians had been resettled in Malaysia, while 120,000 Muslims from southern Philippines had been given refuge over the past few decades, they said.

 

They urged the government to sign and ratify the UN Convention on Refugees and to update domestic laws to keep pace, including addressing the fact that Malaysian law does not currently distinguish between undocumented migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees.

 

They also urged the government to set up a bipartisan Parliamentary Select Committee on Human Rights to study temporary arrangements to provide immediate relief for refugees.

 

“Although there are many long-term questions to consider, such as integration, the current humanitarian crisis necessitates short-term responses in order to save lives,” the trio said in their statement today.

 

They also urged Malaysia and other countries to engage with Myanmar to resolve it domestic issues.

 

“As the current chair of Asean, it is an opportunity for Malaysia to lead the way in engaging Myanmar through a multilateral process.

 

“Asean must realise that unless the victimisation of the Rohingya stops, we will not see the end to this problem. Thus far, the government has shown no leadership on this matter,” they said.

 

However, they stressed that in dealing with refugees at sea, the government should not forget that there are already some 150,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia.

 

These people have no access to education, healthcare, and jobs, and are also vulnerable to human trafficking and exploitation.

 

“Without proper laws and standard operating procedures, the problem will only worsen. The social and economic costs are high, and sweeping the issue under the carpet will not resolve anything,” they said.