<<previous | index | next>> Violations of Civil Liberties and Harsh Living Conditions in MalaysiaThe majority of new arrivals from Aceh are living in conditions of insecurity and poverty in Malaysia. Due to their vulnerable and illegal status, unemployment is high and external humanitarian assistance is rare. Acehnese in Malaysia live primarily in two types of settings: camps of laborers around construction sites and settled communities. Labor camps consist of temporary housing built by workers on the fringes of Malaysia’s many massive construction projects, where some of them work. In settled communities, new arrivals often join Acehnese who have lived there for years, some of whom have permanent resident status in Malaysia. In both settings Human Rights Watch found that only a fraction of newly arrived Acehnese works at any given time. Those who work are expected to help pay for those who are unable, as well as send money home through banks, friends, or intermediaries. Many of those who spoke to Human Rights Watch had worked only a few days out of the previous month, and recent arrivals tended to have found no work at all. One man described the conditions:
Some Malaysian organizations have provided clothing and food to assist the Acehnese. However, because the government of Malaysia does not make a distinction between illegal migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees, provisions in Malaysian law51 make it difficult for UNHCR and humanitarian agencies to provide asylum seekers and refugees with assistance. A formal and comprehensive humanitarian assistance program is essential in order to adequately address the food, shelter, and medical problems faced by the Acehnese. Bribery and extortionIn addition to arrest and the prospect of being forcibly returned to Aceh, many Acehnese who enter illegally or whose visas have lapsed are targets of extortion from Malaysian police. One man told Human Rights Watch:
Another man told Human Rights Watch:
One twenty-one-year-old man told Human Rights Watch:
Indonesian settlements in Malaysia are also regularly subjected to both official and unofficial police raids. In one settlement that Human Rights Watch visited, refugees said that men in plainclothes had visited the night before. They had detained one man and forced him to pay them off. Residents at the settlement were not certain whether or not these men were police, but explained that it didn’t matter, as they could not face the risk of not paying, no matter who they were. Another refugee told Human Rights Watch:
One man described a Malaysian police raid on a workers camp:
Despite these hardships refugees repeatedly told Human Rights Watch that a difficult life in Malaysia was more preferable to returning to Aceh. As one man said:
50 Human Rights Watch interview [name withheld], Malaysia, October 27, 2003. 51 Certain provisions of Malaysian immigration law and criminal law, when read together, implicitly prohibit the delivery of humanitarian assistance to illegal migrants except in very limited circumstances. 52 Human Rights Watch interview [name withheld], Malaysia, October 27, 2003. 53 Human Rights Watch interview with twenty-four-year-old man [name withheld], Malaysia, October 31, 2003. 54 Human Rights Watch interview with twenty-one-year-old man [name withheld], Malaysia, October 28, 2003. 55 Human Rights Watch interview with twenty-six-year-old man [name withheld], Malaysia, October 29, 2003. 56 Human Rights Watch interview [name withheld], Malaysia, October 28, 2003. 57 Human Rights Watch interview with twenty-two-year-old man [name withheld], Malaysia, October 31, 2003.
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