COMMENT The memory is still fresh in his mind. A young man his age was dehydrated and moaning by the deck. He could hardly lie down. The boat was crammed with 450 Rohingyas. Wadullah was thinking of his parents and sibling for weeks. He knew it won’t be possible to see his family members again. There was no turning back.

 

“I was in the boat for 72 days surrounded by a vast expanse of sea,” the 18 year old said. “76 people died before they stepped on the Thailand mainland. The smugglers threw the dead bodies into the sea. Dozens of people died while they were waiting to cross the Malaysian border by land due to hunger. Some were beaten to death.”

 

Wadullah reached Kuala Lumpur four months ago. Currently working as a street sweeper in Ampang, he said life in Malaysia is slightly better.

 

Together with 11 other Rohingya young men, he stays in a small double-storey house. The living room is dull, as they only have one florescent light on the ceiling. Clothes hang on the wall. The toilet is totally dark.

 

A few Rohingyas were taking dinner in the kitchen. Plain rice and curry, which made up their three meals every day. Wadullah removed his dirty shirt after a long day’s work and gorged on the food. 

 

His eyes showed showed his village boy’s innocence. 

 

 “We could hardly get a job there. Discrimination and oppression happen in a daily basis. Rohingyas are not allowed to work,” he said. “The lands were taken decades ago, we are living in a small hut.”

 

Like any other teenager in Arakan (also called Rakhine), the Burmese armies ordered him to do forced labour. Wadullah was tortured constantly.

 

“No shouting, no crying when they torture you. If you do, they will torture you more. That’s why we fled. There is nothing left for us there,” he said.

 

Yahyakan ( photo ) came to Malaysia together with Wadullah in the same boat.

 

“I wish I could go to school, at least get my studies done,” he whispered.

“The Rakhines attacked me on the way to school. My bike was punctured often.”

 

Frequent harassment

The minority Muslim communities were harassed frequently. Teachers commonly expelled Rohingya students. Limiting the education of Rohingyas is part of the Myanmar government’s ethnic cleansing plan. 

 

In the past week, thousands of Rohingya and Bengali migrants reached Malaysian shores but were turned away by the authorities.

Hundreds of Rohingyas like Wadullah and Yahyakan were believed to have died in the sea, while Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand play “human ping-pong” in the Andaman Sea, trying to push them elsewhere.

 

In the upper floor of the house, Mohammed Tayyub ( left ) chatted with his friend. There were only two rooms with no light available. A LCD television was in the corner with some Bollywood movie discs scattered around.

 

“The TV is not working,” said Mohammed. “We took it from a garbage bin while working. It had been here for months. Perhaps one day we will fix it and watch Shah Rukh Khan’s shows.”

 

As Mohammed is working under the local municipal council to clean the streets, he sometimes collects usable garbage to bring home. The young migrants registered their names with UNHCR when they first arrived in Malaysia, but still await a UN card.

 

With no identification documents, their mobility is limited as is their search for work.

 

Each of them has a salary of RM700-RM800 each month. As more than half of the money is spent on rental and daily expenses, they can only afford to send back around RM300 to Myanmar each month.

 

“It’s not much but for the families in Arakan, that’s better than nothing. At least they can buy some food to fill up the stomachs since the Myanmar government has banned us from finding jobs,” he explained.

 

Living in Myanmar is worse than living in hell for the Rohingyas. They are not given citizenship, education, healthcare, job opportunities and have been harassed for half a century. Men are driven into forced labour and women are frequently raped.

 

Farming is not allowed for the Rohingyas. Even if they want to get some leaves from the jungle, the army wants them to pay.

 

Inhumane suppression against the community began since in 1962 when the country fell under military rule which has lasted 49 years. The process of stripping the identities and rights of Rohingyas continues till today.

 

Bleeding scars

Malaysia is currently chair of Asean and the Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR). Unfortunately it has failed on handling Rohingya migrant issues.

 

Mohammed injured his left thigh the while chopping a tree during his work a day before. He wears a sarung around his lower body part and shows me the bleeding scars.

 

“I washed the scars by myself,” he said. “It’s expensive to get treatment in hospital. I am going to rest for few days. It’s painful. I can barely walk.”

 

Asylum seekers face difficulties in accessing healthcare service in Malaysia. Government health care facilities are accessible to non-Malaysians at a significantly higher cost, which is almost impossible for the Rohingyas to pay.

 

Abdulsalam, a Rohingya who came to Malaysia in 1984 expressed his frustration.

 

 “The same problem has been happening since my dad’s generation. Until today, the problem is still there,” he said. “I am upset at seeing my people suffer for so long. I went to Putrajaya several times, hoping to talk with the Malaysia prime minister regarding the issue of Rohingyas. I never met him. The guards expelled me every time.”

 

Back in the living room, Wadullah is constantly looking at his phone. He is trying to call home.

 

“There is only one or two phones in each village. My parent will go to the owner and pay them whenever I call,” he said. “I can call from here. But they can’t call from Arakan.”

 

Before he left for Maungdaw to embark on the boat, Wadullah’s family sold their land and cows,to gather RM3000 for him. The smugglers demanded RM7000. Since the day he arrived In Malaysia, he has been working to pay the debt.

 

“I don’t dare to think about future. I think about my family more,” he said. “I worry if they had received the money, if they have enough food to eat, if they are safe. That’s what is in my mind before I sleep every day.”

 

CHRIS LAU is a freelance journalist.