When thousands each day flee their ancestral land and family homes to escape persecution, oppression and carnage, many more just go about their day as if all is well. The different peoples of our singular human race in this, our increasingly polarised world- though brought closer by technology and modernity- are pushed further apart in terms of the dignity and rights enjoyed.
For those who find no alternative but to risk life and limb, leave their birthplace and even their families in search of refuge and a chance of a tomorrow that is humane and dignified; there is no more urgent time that NOW to ACT in solidarity with them. Especially here in Malaysia, refugees face frightful challenges as the laws and systems do not provide for legal statuses, rendering them as illegal migrants.
Many refugees in Malaysia, a large proportion of them from Myanmar, escape oppression and brutality of war only to find social and economic discrimination as well as displacement. Many of their lives in exile remain precarious,with many often forced into the informal sector and even illegal industries such as drugs, and human trafficking because they are not afforded legal statuses, denying them the right to decent work. This frightful wrong resulted by poor and inhumane policy by the government must be corrected.
With a significantly large proportion of Malaysians of all ethnicity today, being descendants of migrants who came to seek refuge from economic, social and political displacements, Malaysians must recognise the rights of all human kind to work, and build a new life as an equal human being in a different land, free from persecution.
Today, World Refugee Day, is the day dedicated to the those who suffer and struggle for their very existence; because tyrants and oppressors are alive and thriving. To bring demise to oppressive powers, leaders of governments who stand on the bright and righteous side of humanity must ACT. For those in government to feel the urgency to ACT by doing their fair share, the global public must shout with the loudest and clearest voice that We Stand Together with Refugees.
DAP urges that all Malaysians sign the #WithRefugees petition which will be delivered to UN headquarters in New York ahead of the UN High Level Meeting on Refugees and Migrants, scheduled for the 19th September. The petition asks governments and world leaders to:
- Ensure every refugee child gets an education.
- Ensure every refugee family has somewhere safe to live.
- Ensure every refugee can work or learn new skills to make a positive contribution to their community.
Here is where you can do your part. Sign the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency’s petition here at this link: http://www.unhcr.org/refugeeday/petition/ .
Make your voices heard with your clear actions; do it for Dignity and Humanity.