Get rid of Rohingya refugee children's exploitation, ensure basic education
January 27, 2022 @
7:04am
Rohingya
refugees study together at a refugee camp in the village of Munasah Mee in
Lhokseumawe, Aceh. -AFP file pic
LETTERS: We, the undersigned organisations express strong solidarity in
the celebration of International Day of Education which was proclaimed in 2018
by United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). This year marks the fourth year of
celebration, and the theme is 'Changing Course, Transforming Education'.
The coalition is firmly dedicated
to getting rid of child illiteracy rates among the Rohingya marginalised
children who are being exploited by various quarters to their own advantage.
There have been various
community-based schools, running with no proper curriculums, text books and
educational materials as they don't have funding from any sources. There are
NGOs who support schools for the Rohingya refugee children, but the children are
deprived of one key facility and practice, of their own mother language and
culture.
On the other hand, syndicates are
exploiting the children with misleading hopes of economic gain in various
sectors. It is very clear that all refugees are not Rohingya, but various
quarters believe that "refugees" are only Rohingya and hence the
issue of "refugees" is directly applied to vulnerable Rohingya with
the development of "Rohingyaphobia".
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ensures rural children access to quality early childhood education
·
Malaysia
calls for refugee convention signatories to receive more Rohingya refugees
·
Armed
groups now a threat to Rohingya refugees
The signatories request the
Malaysian government, all level of authorities, societies, public and concerned
quarters to develop understanding of the Rohingya issue with comprehensive
studies that Rohingya are distinct and the most vulnerable of refugees as they
are unwanted in the world, while they take refuge in Malaysia without any
document and are forcibly stateless, unlike other refugees.
Meanwhile, almost all
non-Rohingya refugees have their own states and embassies. They migrated to
Malaysia legally and sought refugee status at the UNHCR. Those kinds of
refugees play double standards with double identities and most times, misuse
the name of Rohingya to tarnish the good image of Rohingya victims and to
disband Rohingya movement.
Rohingya refugees are temporarily
staying in Malaysian territory and waiting to resettle to third countries as
they are unable to expect to return to their country of origin (Myanmar) where
genocide is going on.
It is of paramount importance to
know that the cases of Rohingya are not being prioritised for resettlement referral,
which is evidently recorded in various international reports as the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Malaysia has referred over
118,000 refugee cases to 15 different resettlement countries from 2005 to 2017.
Out of them, over 100,000 were successfully resettled where from the year 2003
to 2021, only 8,312 Rohingya were given a chance of resettlement to third
countries with complete and open xenophobic practices.
In this regard, Rohingya refugees
appeal to all quarters to take effective measures through special investigation
about the cases of Rohingya refugees in Malaysia in order to find a
long-lasting solution on urgent basis.
During their waiting period in
Malaysia, fulfillment of their children's education is highly required in which
cooperation with the best intention must be applied to keep their distinct
identity with language, culture and tradition, while authorities should take
stern action against those syndicates who are exploiting their children by
tarnishing the good image of the Rohingya in the country.
Signed by:
1. Australian Burmese Rohingya
Association (ABRA)
2. Australian Burmese Rohingya
Organization (ABRO)
3. Arakan Rohingya Refugee
Committee of Myanmar in India (ARRCMI)
4. Arakan Rohingya Youth
Association (ARYA)
5. Arakan Watch (AW)
6. Da'wah & Empowerment
Association for Rohingya (DEAR)
7. Education & Wisdom
Development for Rohingya Women (EWDRW)
8. Human Rights Association for
Rohingya (HURAR)
9. Rohingya Arakanese Refugee
Committee (RARC)
10. Rohingya American Society
(RAS)
....., [27/1/2022 10:30 PM]
11. Rohingya Community
Development Campaign (RCDC)
12. Rohingya Education and
Development Organization (READ)
13. Rohingya Human Rights
Initiative (RHRI)
14. Rohingya Islamic Center (RIC)
15. Rohingya Refugee Committee
(RRC)
16. Rohingya Youth Care (RYC)
17. Rohingya Youth Association
(RYA)
18. Rohingya Student Network
(RSN)
19. Rohingya Youth Development
Forum (RYDF)
20. Rohingya Youths for Legal
Action (RYLA)
21. Rohingya Women Development
Forum (RWDF)
22. Rohingya Women's Empowerment
and Advocacy Network (RWEAN)
23. Rohingya Writers Network
(RWN)
24. Rohingya Culture Center of
Chicago (RCC)
25. Women for Rohingya (W4R)
26. World Rohingya Organization
(WRO-USA)
Hello Dr Habib! I'm Tasnia, a researcher from CPJ, BRAC University. My colleague and I are currently working on the Rohingya refugee response. We would love to have you insight on some of our research questions. If you're willing and interested to speak to us and share your thoughts, please email me at tasnia.khandaker@bracu.ac.bd.
ReplyDeleteFor reference and examples of our previous work, here's the link to our website: https://cpj.bracu.ac.bd/