Thesun 2009-06-18 Page15 Time For Rohingya Master Plan

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| THURSDAY JUNE 18 2009

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Praise for health checks IT IS nerve-wracking to travel these days because of the swine flu scare. Daily, we read reports of individuals with the symptoms being quarantined. I recently had to travel to Penang, my hometown, to attend a relative’s wedding. I was wary of travelling by plane as the contagious virus is airborne and easily spread in enclosed spaces. However, I was pleasantly surprised and reassured when I arrived at Subang Airport on May 29. The terminal had health-check counters manned by officials offering flu masks to passengers.

This gave passengers a sense of confidence that the authorities were doing their best to limit the outbreak. The health officer at the terminal asked me whether I had any symptoms which could be the first signs of the Influenza A(H1N1) virus infection. She also insisted that I take the flu mask – better safe than sorry! I went on with my journey, reassured that the authorities had done their part to ensure my trip to Penang was as safe as possible. Lee Meng Loo Kuala Lumpur

Playing by our own rules million refugees are THE instructions slowly dying. The were to conduct a rule would be that he little experiment should stay put in his with the group. The palace, hand himself task was a simple in and kowtow to the game with a few world powers but basic rules. What instead he toured the group didn’t Egypt, Saudi Arabia, know was that at Qatar and Libya and any time, the rules upped his game by could change at the appointing a war leader’s whim. OnPointe crimes fraternity After a few by Natalie Shobana Ambrose member as governor rounds, the subjects of a border province. began protesting Who are Omar al-Bashir’s and getting angry – crying foul pawns? The people of Darfur, that there was no order. Indeed who are voiceless and dying. the lesson for the day was that Then there is Teheran. With life isn’t fair – some people play all the protests going on not just by their own rules, and couldn’t in Iran but around the world, care less about others. one has to wonder did democI’m sure we’ve all been racy die there too. On the CNN brushed by it in some form and/ website there is a picture of a or have been culprits. We find it young woman holding a placard on the playground when a bully which reads “What happened to gets his way, or in kindergarten my vote?” A sentiment I gather when another is given special many Malaysians too share. treatment, in school when There are a lot of people homework is done by others, in playing by their own rules right the office when colleagues are here in Malaysia, to such an rewarded for bad behaviour, extent that we are not allowed and in governments where to speak about it. Perhaps we are countries are run at the whims following blindly the examples and fancies of the mighty. from the rest of the world and One culprit is North Korea. perhaps think that it is acceptThe rule was to adhere to the Nuable because it is not as grave. clear Non-Proliferation Treaty. After all, America defied the Instead, they defied world powUnited Nations, played by their ers many, many times. In 2006, own rules and waged war on they carried out an atomic test. Iraq even when Kofi Annan said In April this year they launched that the war was illegal. Though a rocket and last month carried the repercussions of America’s out underground nuclear bomb action were minimal within the tests which are comparable to UN family, the American people those that destroyed Hiroshima continue to suffer, all because and Nagasaki. their government played by On top of that North Korea their own rules. And the Iraqis has warned of future atomic continue to suffer. and long-range missile tests. It’s frustrating when suddenly No one dares call them on it the rules change and there’s no because North Korea plays by consistency and fairness. I worry its own rules. The powers-thatif for some reason I was placed be are close to taking the rotan in the position of needing to fight and smacking them but they for my rights in a Malaysian have two pawns – the American court; would there be justice journalists and are just about within 24 hours or will I have ready to say checkmate. I’m not to wait weeks before my case sure what the hungry citizens of would be heard? North Korea think, but just the When there isn’t a level playthought of the effects of the nuing field, there isn’t fair play. At clear tests sends shivers down the end of the day, the lesson my spine. remains that life is not fair, Another culprit hails from people play by their own rules the African continent. After the and we can only hope that they International Criminal Court isplay fair. sued a warrant of arrest on the president of Sudan (the world’s Natalie is learning to embrace the first sitting president with a warconcept that that life is not fair rant of arrest), he retaliated by -- so just deal with it. Comment: expelling 13 foreign aid groups [email protected] from Darfur, where now 1.5

Time for a Rohingya master plan PRESENTLY in Malaysia there are an acknowledged 8,000 people from Myanmar who are stateless. Many have applications pending with the United Nations Human Rights Commission to be classified as refugees. Their applications are still pending action, even after waiting for more than a year. And the number is probably three times that of the known stateless people. The present circumstances, given the world and local economy, place substantial burdens upon NGOs. We have reduced personnel and financial resources to help the Rohingyas. We get little or no cooperation from the government, let alone from well-meaning but financially pressed citizens. Only one NGO attempts to deal with these refugees as their main issue. Others deal with it as a part of their mandate. But all of us have a responsibility to help the Rohingyas. We are all aware that after World War II unjust borders were drawn by Western colonial powers. And the border between Arakan in Myanmar and south Thailand is among the most cruelly drawn. The Rohingya Muslims of Arakan were cut off from the Malay Muslims of south Thailand, as well as the Muslims of Malaysia and Bangladesh. Placed under the political authority of Myanmar, the Arakan region entered a long period of neglect and oppression. After many years of immense suffering, the Rohingyas began to take small boats to the open sea in hopes of landing some-

where as political, economic, and religious refugees. But they have been turned away everywhere. We cannot forget the treatment and rejection in the last two years by our neighbours. No one wants them. The Rohingyas are applying now for the most they can hope for, that is, the United Nations’ temporary refugee status, until other countries agree to take them in. Indonesia is said to be considering their application to land in Aceh temporarily. But these and other solutions are only temporary. Myanmar ignores the Rohingya completely or treats them as second-class citizens, saying they are the problem of Bangladesh. These and other positions are untenable. The border defended by the United Nations clearly places these people as a Muslim minority in the predominantly Buddhist state of Myanmar and nowhere else. The regime is driving the Arakanese, including the Rohingyas, away, forcing them to become “boat people” facing the perils of robbery, drowning or starving in the open sea. Perhaps this is why no one wants them — they are truly among the “have nots” of this world. As were the muhajirun (Meccan refugees) who followed Prophet Muhammad (saw) to establish their city-state in Medina in the first years of the Hijrah calendar. Then there was a prophet of God to teach and protect them. Evidently, Muslims have lost their spirit

and do not care to intervene in the tragic deaths of so many of these “boat people”. What would the prophet do now, seeing the plight of this community of Muslims? Asean’s non-interventionist policies have not helped in this issue. This long standing problem affects Malaysia and other Asean countries. The way forward, at least at this stage here in Malaysia, is to: establish a cultural orientation programme; set up a skills development programme; establish an ombudsman to act as their representative in the mediation process with the UNHCR, the Immigration Department, and NGOs; and develop a long-term plan to integrate them into our ummah. By carrying out these actions, we are indeed empowering the refugees and not merely addressing their short-term needs. These people have the potential to contribute, and desire to do so. But we are forcing them into greater poverty and a life of crime which effectively produces the opposite result of being a stain upon our communities. We in Malaysia can take the first steps towards treating the Rohingyas in a humane manner.

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Azril Mohd Amin Vice-President Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia