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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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)