The severe beating he received in 1990, however, left a permanent scar in his psyche. Slightly more than a year after his marriage, he told his wife that he can no longer stay in Myanmar. He feared the military too much. So in June of 2001, with his wife pregnant with their twin sons, he ran to Thailand, where he worked as a fisherman. He promised his wife he would send back money, and for a year and 4 months worked hard as a fisherman, earning 3,500 Baht a month. In that period, he could only manage to send back money once, because pay was low and inconsistent. Sometimes he would get paid, but sometimes he wouldn’t. He told me that he dare not ask for back pay because the owner had a gun.
For someone who has bravely been all over Malaysia in search of a job, who is adaptable enough to take on almost any job thrown at him, and who has learnt quite a bit of Malay and be able to speak it, he now seems strangely lost, shaken and afraid. It’s like all the fight and stuffing has been beaten out of him somehow by his latest encounter with the drunken mob and the police. I don’t know what the future lies for him now. I hope he will in time regain his spirit. This chunky, tanned man with the stern face but kind voice. It’s already turning into dusk as I write this, and selfishly, I feel thankful that the responsibility to care for him does not rest on my shoulders tonight.
This is one of 50 stories you can find on the website Their stories - fifty refugees Malaysia. A labour of love, it was created in conjunction with Malaysia’s 50th anniversary. Aris Oziar writes:
My name is Aris Oziar. For the past three months I have been working on a website project called FiftyRefugees. As the name implies, it chronicles the story of 50 refugees who currently call Malaysia their home.
Malaysia does not recognise the Geneva Refugee Convention, and partly as a result of this (we have other legal avenues to give them rights, such as IMM13 but the government has refused to act), Refugees in Malaysia who cross the border illegally or whose visa has lapsed are classified as Illegal Immigrants, subject to arrest and detention by the police, RELA and Immigration. They have restricted access to healthcare services and the children cannot go to government schools, effectively denying them education.
As a Malaysian, I am outraged to hear their stories of Malaysia - 3 years of detention or living in makeshift jungle camps / jungle due to fear of arrest. Stories of a 6 year old girl whose last visit to town was 4 years ago (the mother is too afraid to bring her out), and her 55 year old father who eventually died because the police took all their money the one time they were desperate enough to go to the hospital to treat his illness. And of course, of the Malaysian immigration authorities dumping them across the border in Thailand, where they are rounded up by agents and either pay these agents to get back to Malaysia , or face slave labour - the men in fishing boats and the women, probably sold to the sex trade.
I want people to know that refugees do exist in Malaysia . To know that they braved a dangerous journey to Malaysia to escape atrocities in their own country. To know that most of them live a marginal life, often exploited, almost always in fear.
Don't just visit the website. Spend time there. Go there again and again to read the stories. Pray for these people. And pray for the group of people they represent.
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