Legal work rights for refugees in Malaysia is a first positive step forward

Legal work rights for refugees in Malaysia is a positive step forward but they must be offered adequate protections for the scheme to succeed long-term writes Gerhard Hoffstaedter on the Asia & the Pacific policy society blog.

Several news outlets have reported on a pilot scheme to provide work rights to 300 Rohingya refugees in Malaysia. This scheme is a cooperation between the Malaysian government and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). It has been long in the making and refugee advocates, as well as the UNHCR, have been arguing for more regularisation of refugees in Malaysia for a long time.

The announcement comes at a time of escalating violence against the Rohingya in Myanmar and reports of ethnic cleansing. The Malaysian government’s approach to the plight of the Rohingya has long been guided by the ASEAN policy of non-interference. However, last week the government demanded action from Myanmar in a public statement and summoned the Myanmar ambassador to convey their message.

Malaysia is not a signatory to the UN refugee convention or protocol and therefore does not recognise refugees legally. The UNHCR is allowed to register refugees on the understanding that the majority are to be resettled to safe third countries, such as the US, Australia, Canada and European countries. Currently, over 150,000 refugees are registered by the UNHCR with many more remaining unregistered and very vulnerable.

The UNHCR does not have sufficient means to look after so many refugees, which necessitates their employment in often dirty, dangerous and demeaning occupations. Without outside help, refugees turn to the large Malaysian shadow economy, where they find badly-paid work, are often cheated out of their wages, or worse. When accidents happen, entire families can become destitute overnight as few have health insurance or access to workers’ compensation schemes.

Rohingyas refugees denied right to work in Malaysia

The recent IRINs' article Kept afloat by hope - the endless odyssey of the Rohingya illustrates the plight of refugees who are denied the right to work in Malaysia:

"More than 150,000 people are currently registered with the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in Malaysia, just under a third of whom are Rohingya. But Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and treats Rohingya and all other refugees and asylum seekers as illegal migrants. Registration with UNHCR can take up to two years and even with the agency’s refugee cards, they have no right to work, cannot send their children to government schools and live at constant risk of detention. Most eke out a precarious existence on the fringes of society, vulnerable to exploitation and abuse."  

Read the whole article to learn more about the plight of Rohingyas in Malaysia: 

Thailand, Closed Camps, No Work Authorization lead to Stagnation and Abuse

In the report 'Thailand: Refugee Policies Ad Hoc and Inadequate' dating from September 2012, Human Rights Watch finds that Thai refugee policies are not grounded in law and cause refugees of all nationalities to be exploited and unnecessarily detained and deported. 

Human Rights Watch concluded among others that closed camps and lack of work authorization lead to stagnation and abuse. 

The report focuses on the plight of Burmese refugees, the largest current refugee group in Thailand. It examines treatment and conditions of both Burmese refugees inside the camps on the Thai-Burma border and Burmese outside the camps, who are not officially recognized as refugees.