Name? Anwar Ibrahim
Westphalian identity? Malaysian
Age? 72
Why is he in the news? “As we guard our borders, we cannot let people die!” Ibrahim; most likely the next Prime Minister of Malaysia, recently stated this in a Facebook video regarding the turning away of Rohingya refugees at Malaysia’s borders (under the pretense of Corona of course).
Why do we care? Because we, like Ibrahim, “think we should safeguard our humanity.” A pandemic is not an excuse to ignore other crises in the world, especially those with such humanitarian catastrophe as the Rohingya crisis.
Why should you care? Because you, as well as your leaders, will either take a stance like Ibrahim or a stance like Trump when it comes to refugees in Corona times. Malaysians are already dealing with such a decision as it is very quickly dividing the country between those who wish to welcome the refugees and those who want to keep Malaysia’s resources for themselves as cases continue to spike.
Who else cares? Bangladesh. When Malaysia turns away the Rohingya, they most likely return to Bangladesh which has been overwhelmed by the refugees since 2015 (aka before Coronavirus ever hit the country).
Any further comments? Malaysia is not a signatory state to the UN Refugee Convention (1951) nor its Protocol (1967). As a result, the country does not have a legal nor administrative framework for processing refugees and asylum seekers when they arrive in Malaysia. This is not to say they haven’t accepted refugees at all in the last seventy years (they have taken in Rohingya, Palestinian and Bosnian refugees), but there is currently no framework for integration. Under Malaysian law, refugees are not allowed to work, access government-subsidized public health care or go to school; basically, they aren’t recognized by the government. The current combined crises of Corona and the Rohingya have brought this to light and led to a distinct demand on both sides: either close the borders to refugees or develop a concrete framework for their arrival.
