Friday, 15 May 2020 12:57 PM MYT
Many other countries, including much poorer and less developed countries, are hosting way more refugees than us. In 2018, the top five countries which hosted the largest number of refugees worldwide are Turkey , Pakistan , Uganda , Sudan and Germany . As Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, we do not have any responsibility towards refugee. We should send them back
It has also even been argued that “pushbacks” operation, that is, by intercepting the boats carrying refugees by not allowing them to land, may also amount to a violation of the principle of non-refoulement.Not true. An economic migrant normally leaves a country voluntarily to seek a better life. They can return to their home countries should they chose to do so, and they continue to receive the protection of their governments, even when they are abroad.
Also, as refugees are not recognised, they are being treated as illegal migrants where they are always at risk of being arrested and detained, and that also includes refugee children. In detention, they can be subjected to abuse and torture. Second, for refugees who are poor like the Rohingyas who have been living in hardship and exploitation, they often end up in a kind of bondage agreement with the traffickers.Not true. Again, that is the perception that most people have — refugees must be poor, uneducated, and low-skilled and they will always be.
During this stressful and challenging times where we are facing the global pandemic of Covid-19, it is important for us to ensure that we are not doing this as a coping mechanism by deflecting the blame and attention to the refugees. We should stop persecuting the already persecuted.