Saturday, August 29, 2009

Munchy's Brings Smiles to Kachin Kids


Munchy's has generously donated hundreds of boxes of assorted biscuits which will keep the Kachin kids from New Generation & Victory Schools happy for the next few months. This is the second time Munchy's is donating biscuits to the kids. The biscuits are distributed to the students during their snack time. The faces on the kids speak volumes on their gratitude and appreciation to Munchy's. In addition, the Munchy's staff have joined together to help the community by buying rice cookers, water jugs, etc as well as treating the kids to McDonald's. They also plan to give the kids a movie treat.

Thanks so much Munchy's and all staff of Munchy's, your hearts are as big as our appetites for Munchy's!!! :)

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Handmade Jewellery by Kachin Women

A group of women from the Kachin refugee community are making beaded jewellery to raise funds for themselves and their community. 50% of the proceeds go towards the women involved in the project while the rest goes towards the Kachin Women & Children's Fund which provides funds for emergency needs like food & medical expenses. The project kicked off early this year and has so far raised almost RM3000 in sales.

For more information on how you can purchase the jewellery pls send an email to my.beautiful.myanmar@gmail.com. Prices range from RM15-50 and custom made orders are also accepted.

The women are also looking for old jewellery so they can recycle the materials. In addition to jewellery the women also make handphone pouches, traditional bags, purses, shawls, etc.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Where are their Rights?

To find out more about the harsh treatment of refugees at detention centers visit http://myanmarrefugees.blogspot.com/

Let's all pray that the authorities and powers that be develop a conscience and learn to have compassion and humanity towards these migrants.

After all what goes around comes around...

Myanmar migrants stuck in Malaysia detention camps

Published: Sunday August 16, 2009 MYT 2:09:00 PM

SEPANG: A growing number of immigrants from Myanmar are ending up stuck, often for months, in crowded detention centers in Malaysia designed to hold people for only a few weeks.
Almost 2,800 Myanmarese were detained at camps in July, more than double the 1,200 in January, partly because of a crackdown on human trafficking, a step-up in raids and a slow economy that leaves the migrants without jobs.
People from Myanmar, a desperately poor country with a military junta, are now the biggest group among the 7,000 foreigners at detention centers in Malaysia.
At a center near the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, some 120 men sat in neat rows on the floor.
Many had their legs drawn to their chests, and all were barefoot. There was not enough space and not enough bedding.
"There is no soap for taking a shower, nothing. They don't give us anything," said Kyaw Zin Lin, 23, who said he fled to avoid being drafted into the Myanmar army.
"Every day we eat the food just to survive. ... They treat us like animals."
"It's very difficult to stay here," said Aung Kuh The, a pale 26-year-old.
"We have got a lot of problems. Some people, you know, we want to see the doctor but we don't have the chance."
One reason for the rise in detainees is a crackdown on trafficking.
A report published in April by the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations cited firsthand accounts of Myanmarese who said immigration officers turned them over to traffickers.
That practice has all but stopped, Myanmar community leaders in Malaysia say.
Now, though, the Myanmarese are trapped in detention.
The Myanmar embassy often takes six months to register its citizens for deportation and charges them 620 ringgit ($180), much more than neighboring Indonesia.
By contrast, detainees from other countries are typically deported within a week.
Calls to the Myanmar embassy were repeatedly put on hold and then unanswered.
About half the Myanmarese - those fleeing persecution - may qualify for UN refugee status, but that process takes up to four months.
The others are economic migrants. Some 140,000 Myanmarese work in Malaysia, but foreign workers who are laid off lose the right to stay.
Some Myanmarese have spent more than six months in crowded, dirty detention centers.
One man, whose brother was in detention for four months, said he would rather be sold to traffickers from whom he could buy his freedom.
"I prefer to be trafficked," said the man, who would only be identified by his nickname, Ryan, to protect his relatives in Myanmar.
"I don't mind paying 2,000 ringgit ($570)."
Five of Malaysia's 13 detention centers are overcrowded; four of the five have large Myanmarese populations, according to the immigration department.
Journalists from The Associated Press accompanied the human rights group Amnesty International on a rare visit recently to three detention centers just south of Kuala Lumpur, the country's biggest city.
At the Lenggeng Detention Depot, 1,400 people are crammed into dormitories meant for 1,200. Of them about 300 are from Myanmar.
Hundreds of men jostle each other for room in the bare dormitories. One sleeps on a stone ledge in a bathroom.
Each dormitory is fenced by wire mesh and barbed wire, giving detainees just a few meters (feet) of space for walking.
"The detention centers we saw fell short of international standards in many respects, as the immigration authorities themselves acknowledge," said Michael Bochenek of Amnesty International.
"It's a facility of such size that infectious diseases are communicated readily."
Saw Pho Tun, a refugee community leader, said some immigration officers have singled out Myanmarese detainees for rough treatment, beating them and not allowing them medical assistance.
Immigration officials deny beating detainees and say everyone has access to medical care.
On July 1, detainees at another center flung their food trays and damaged some of the mesh fence.
Immigration officials blamed the riot on frustration about having to stay so long, but detainees say they rioted because they were afraid of abuse.
Most of the blocks have now been shut for repairs, so more than 1,000 detainees - including 700 from Myanmar - were transferred to other already crowded centers.
Abdul Rahman Othman, the director general of the Immigration Department, said he was taking steps to prevent his officers from being "entangled" in trafficking syndicates.
He said officers would be rotated to different posts every three years and have a buddy system to supervise each other.
"Ninety-nine percent of us in immigration are good people," he said, denying the problem is widespread.
Police arrested five officers on trafficking allegations last month.
They say their investigations revealed immigration officials took Myanmar immigrants to the Thai border and sold them for up to 600 ringgit ($170) to traffickers.
The traffickers then told the migrants to pay 2,000 ringgit ($570) for their freedom, or they would be forced to work in the fishing industry, police said.
Myanmar community leaders said women who failed to pay were sold into prostitution. - AP

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/8/16/nation/20090816141200&sec=nation