The Myanmar Rohingyas: Challenges faced by the ‘refugee’ community in Malaysia, 2014-2016 / Azlinariah Abdullah

The purpose of this study is to highlight the challenges of social integration among the Rohingyas in Malaysia as refugees, and the extent to which the direct and indirect challenges have played a role in the process of social and cultural integration. This research, based on interviews with the Rohingyas living in Malaysia, focuses on their everyday lives as refugees. The ethnographic research design, combining semi-structured interviews provides an opportunity to analyze social relations in Malaysia. The problems and challenges of integration as refugees and their survival as a Muslim minority community from Myanmar are also discussed, based on fieldwork involving observation in some Rohingya urban settings. Library sources are used to share an overview of the Rohingyas. Findings are based on earlier research, interviews with experts on Rohingya issues, and the Rohingya communities in Malaysia. Based on case studies, the thesis concludes with a recommendation for successfully integrating Rohingya refugees in Malaysia and a policy that can be reviewed or amended. The analysis of the Rohingyas draws on the conceptual framework of Survival Migration, by Alexander Betts and Alastair Ager and Alison Strang, authors of Understanding Integration. This research indicates that the Rohingyas in Malaysia are still struggling to find their place in the host country. However, many of these refugees are coping well in Malaysia, though there is still much that could be done by local government and international bodies in ensuring the continued survival as refugees. This research also demonstrates the ambiguous status of the Rohingyas as a serious complication in their daily lives, and provides a strong basis for understanding what is happening to the Rohingyas and for determining their root problems. The findings indicate that the mastery of language, employment and the ability to establish social networks with local people are important factors in achieving integration. In addition, there is a need to educate the host community about refugees and policies must be reviewed and amended in terms of education and employment to ensure the social inclusion and successful integration of the Rohingya refugees in Malaysia

Surviving stateless refugees: the uncertain future of Rohingya’s children in Malaysia

It is unsurprised that Malaysia drawn the mass migration of Rohingya refugees who are fleeing the sporadic massacres as well as the persecution of the Myanmar government. According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the flow of these refugees accounts to a total of 154,000 as of end of March 2017. 1 The Rohingya refugees have been in Malaysia since the announcement of the genocide campaign by the Myanmar government against the Muslim Rohingyas a year ago. The need to escape the dire situation in Myanmar, which had been done illegally, these refugees, along with their later generations are identified as illegal migrants. From the legal perspective, the Myanmar children who were born in Malaysia considered no-existence as their births were not documented. The situation, therefore, renders the children to be stateless with an unpromising future. Despite the odds and uncertainty, the communities have crafted themselves for life on the fringe, determined to live their lives as decent human beings and continue to remain Muslims. They have survived without identity cards, jobs or even medical coverage. The purpose of this article is to highlight and analyze the discrimination and inequality faced by the Rohingyas in Malaysia, as well as to propose effective steps to eliminate discrimination and promote equality for the Rohingya refugees. This qualitative article, entails long-recognized human rights problems and aim to shed some light upon less well-known patterns of discriminations against the Rohingyas. For the purpose of this research, the author visited two centers for the Rohingya children; one located in Selayang which is on the outskirt of Kuala Lumpur, and the other in Cheras Baru, Selangor. The latter is chartered by the Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organization Malaysia (MEHROM) which is operated by the Rohingya community themselves. Interviews were carried out with the principals of the aforementioned centers, as well as officials from the UNHCR and the Rohingya