REPORT FROM MALAYSIA
From July 10-12, I was joined in Malaysia for a visit to the Chin refugee community by ABCUSA missionaries Duane and Marcia Binkley and the Rev. Duh Kam - General Board member, Executive Minister of the Chin Baptist Fellowship, and pastor of the Chin Baptist Mission Church in Silver Springs, MD and Rev. Rollin Van Bik who serves the Lai Baptist Church in Washington, DC. All of them played a key role in setting up meetings within the Chin community and with the organizations that serve them in Malaysia. Rev. Wayne Paulsen, who serves as Interim Executive Minister in ABC/NYS, and Rev. Elizabeth Congdon of FBC, Trenton, NJ, accompanied us as well. Each has ministry with Burmese refugees as a major ministry effort in their setting. The group was rounded off by Rev. Kabi Gangmei, a Naga Baptist leader who serves as the Director of Relief and Development for the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation.
This was my second visit in two years. The first was spurred by the Chin community in the US who wanted members of the ABCUSA Joint Taskforce on Burmese Refugees to see first-hand the situation in Malaysia. The goal of this second visit was not only to encourage the refugee community within Malaysia, but also to ascertain the state of their situation two years later.
THE SETTING IN BURMA
There are now about 40,000 Burmese refugees in Malaysia. The bulk of them live in Kuala Lumpur. The Chin, whose state is in the west of Burma, have sought refuge in Malaysia from the human rights abuses of the Burmese military junta. The Chin Human Rights Organization is documenting the many instances of forced labor, rape and sexual harassment, and the active oppression of the Christian community in the Chin State by the government. While the Chin have not been involved in the armed conflict that has engulfed the Karen community, many are fleeing because of the oppressive policies of the government and the oppressive practices of the military. The crosses the Chins have erected on hillsides across their State are being pulled down and stupas erected by the government in an effort to erase the Christian presence in favor of a Buddhist one.
While the junta allowed “democratic elections” to be held in November, the elections were seen worldwide as but window dressing. Members of Aung San Suu Kyi’s party were invariably declared unable to run for office by the election commission, so the current government’s makeup is the same as previously. As a friend of mine might say, the election was like putting lipstick on a pig. It may dress it up a little, but it sure doesn’t change it very much. Consequently, the same repressive military regime remains in power but under the guise now of a democratically elected government.
There are also regional economic and political factors at work that help provide international immunity to the regime. China has a major economic interest in the oil, mineral and gem resources of Burma and has cut deals with the regime for developing and exporting these resources for China’s increasingly voracious economy. Likewise, Thailand has economic interests in Burma as well as a desire to maintain some sense of peace along its border. Consequently, according to one international official we met, none of Burma’s neighbors place any accountability or sanctions on the Burmese government for the ethnic cleansing it is effectively carrying out. And China with its permanent membership on the Security Council of the UN is in a position to protect the regime from any resolution that would have to pass through the council. Nonetheless, the Chin Human Rights Organization is actively pressing for the General Assembly of the UN to establish a commission of inquiry into the situation in Burma this fall. ABCUS
A has supported such efforts in the past.
Because of the advocacy of Rothang Chhangte (ABCUSA) on the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches, representatives of the churches will pay a “living letter” visit to the region in August to visit Burma and the refugees in Malaysia and Thailand.
THE SITUATION IN MALAYSIA
While almost every Burmese ethnic group is represented in the Malaysian diaspora, the Chin people form the largest single community. It is estimated that there are now over 40,000 Chin refugees living in Malaysia. Again, it is estimated that about 600 new refugees enter Malaysia each month. Though we label them refugees, the Malaysian government does not. They are considered illegals and live on the legal gray fringes of Malaysian society. When we visited two years ago, the Chin community was regularly harassed by a private militia (Rela) which worked under the auspices of the government to hunt down and bring Chins and other refugees into the legal system. Beatings, detention, and deportation were common practices. Anyone who was deported back to the border and did not have sufficient funds to bribe the officials was sent to work as indentured servants in the fishing fleets (males) or into the brothels (females.)
Soon after our visit in 2009, including a meeting with UNHCR (United Nations High Command for Refugees) representatives, the UNHCR conducted registration and issued cards to those they registered. This action has provided a great deal of protection to the Chin community within Malaysia. The government and the Rela have eased off. Deportation is no longer practiced, and the government generally is acting in a benign way toward the refugee community. As a result, the Chin have left the jungle encampments we reported on two years ago and now live in Kuala Lumpur. The jungle encampments had been established in an effort to evade the attention of the Rela and the authorities. The encampments were small groupings of people living in makeshift huts with only the barest of essentials. No regular source of food or water combined with a high rate of malaria and other diseases in the camps made them places of misery. Thanks to the UN’s actions, those camps have disbanded on their own.
The refugees still live in desperate circumstances. Functioning on the legal edges of the society, they are not legally able to work. Hence, when they do find work it is often “off the books” with wages well below the going rate on the open market. Likewise, many work under harsh conditions and are cheated out of even the meager wages they are promised by owners who then fail to pay them and threaten to turn them in if they complain.
Living conditions are often wretched, with the refugee families consigned to the worst areas of Kuala Lumpur. Several families often live in one small apartment because of the lack of legal work. They are also subject to daily discrimination due to the taint of being illegal foreigners.
The children of refugees cannot attend public schools, and in our earlier visit we learned that many refugees were also denied medical care.
Again, through the help of the UNHCR, there is minimal funding for a system of learning centers for refugee children. These schools were begun as a volunteer effort by the refugee community. One such group, the Chin Student Organization (named for the university students who founded the work) serves 450 students with 32 teachers from the Chin community. They operate these learning centers in small apartments they rent for that purpose. A 12x12 room might hold 50 students. Textbooks are not always available for every child, so lessons must be copied by the children. These learning centers teach, English, Chin, Math and Science. Interestingly, within Burma, they are forbidden to teach their children the Chin language.
The ACTS clinic (which has received support from a number of sources, including the UNHRC and a recent grant from the World Relief Committee based on the report from our last visit) is the primary provider of health resources to the Chin community in Malaysia. It has a small, low-profile clinic in Kuala Lumpur and it operates mobile clinics outside Kuala Lumpur on a regular basis. Founded by Rosemary and a Jesuit priest in 2008 when they became aware of Chins living in the jungle areas, the clinic not only offers primary health care, but it also runs a nursing home for those who are discharged from the hospitals but are too sick to live on their own. They also pay regular visits to the detention centers where refugees who are arrested as illegals are taken. Eighty percent of their staff are refugees themselves, but they also have volunteers from overseas as well. They are constantly looking for volunteer doctors and nurses who will give 6 months service.
The high rates of malaria that were prevalent due to the jungle encampments have receded. However, the stress of the living conditions in Kuala Lumpur has contributed to an increase in hypertension, diabetes and kidney failure. Aids/HIV is increasing and there is some concern about an increase in TB. Because of the psychological trauma many have experienced, the clinic offers 2 mental health folks for counseling.
There are improvements in the medical treatment available to refugees since our 2009 visit. Now, the Malaysian government provides immunizations for all children. And hospitals will now accept all emergencies. Some hospitals will accept refugees for other needs, but others still will not.
UNHCR
The Kuala Lumpur UNHCR staff was most gracious in giving us time to meet with them on Monday morning, July 11. After explaining our relationship to the Chin community and our concern about their refugee situation within the region and within the US, we had an enlightening and fruitful discussion. We were able to underscore some the ongoing concerns we had heard among the Kuala Lumpur refugees. We were able to thank them for their role in the improvements that have occurred in the past two years. We were able to explore the several dimensions of the situation in Burma and Malaysia. We found a staff that, though overworked and underfunded, has a genuine compassion for and commitment to the refugee community within Malaysia. No international NGO’s such as Church World Service are allowed in Malaysia, meaning that a tremendous burden falls upon the UNHCR for the needs of the refugee community. The fact that those who are registered with the UNHCR are no longer subject to immediate arrest, detention and deportation is a tremendous gain, as is the funding of the learning centers and the health work of ACTS and others.
THE CHURCHES
We had the joy of being sent to the different churches of the Chin Christian Fellowship to preach on Sunday, July 10. There are also such fellowships for many of the other ethnic groups. The Chin Christian Fellowship offers worship in six different places each Sunday with other 7,000 attending. Our host, Pastor Joshua, is a dynamic pastor who has been seconded by his church as a missionary to serve the Chin in Malaysia.
One immediately notices how fast the pace of ministry is. Pastor Joshua and other church leaders are heavily involved in the many needs of the refugee community we listed above. Many of the organizations that are organizing to provide for these needs have grown out of the churches, or they relate to the churches because of their role in the refugee community. Pastor Joshua and others are heavily invested in these organizations as liaisons, advocates and sometimes board members but always as leaders and guides.
The constant turnover in the refugee community creates a lot of ministry needs. There is the welcoming of those arriving and working to make sure that they are networked into the life of the church and community. Then there is ministry to those who are leaving for resettlement in a third country (the largest number by far emigrating to the United States). That Sunday about a dozen people stood in the worship service I attended when the congregation was asked who was leaving that week. Pastor Joshua and others are often involved in special prayer services that are held for those departing. Very often, they bear the burden of ministry to family members who are left behind because they were not in country for the 2009 registration. While we were there, we met a young woman who had just married, and then found out that she was accepted for immigration to the US. So after a few short weeks, she will be separated from her husband who is not registered. Another registration is not scheduled until 2012. Ministry to such split families is demanding. In addition, there are the normal tasks of ministry that also take place: planning worship, preaching, witness, Bible study, Sunday school, marriages, funerals, hospital visits, etc. The pastor’s life, here as elsewhere, is pretty overwhelming.
In spite of their circumstances, there is in their worship and in their lives a deep and abiding joy and peace that causes one to marvel. In the midst of suffering, they rejoice. In the midst of oppression, they live with hope. In spite of the ill-treatment they have received within their homeland and now Malaysia, they radiate love. Their life in Christ has been tested by severe circumstance, and their faith has grown stronger. Their life as the church has not diminished. In their difficulties they have learned to lean on the promises of God in scripture, to practice an active prayer life, and to cherish the church as their primary community and source of identity. We have much to learn from them as the church in North America.
One cannot overestimate the importance of these periodic visits to them. Their identification with American Baptists because of our history of planting the gospel in Burma and our subsequent work with the tribal/ethnic groups is huge. The fact that American Baptists would send teams to see first-hand their experience, and that such teams would include the General Secretary and other denominational leaders, affords them great hope and comfort. It signals to them how important they are to American Baptists and it is a visible reminder that they are not forgotten.
They are encouraged not only by our visits, but by the reception and support they know those who have emigrated to the United States are receiving from American Baptist congregations, national staff and regions.
They are heartened when they hear that we are using every venue available to us to heighten awareness of their situation and of the situation within Burma itself. When we report that it is through ABCUSA encouragement that the World Council is holding a “living letters” visit to the region; when we outline our efforts with our State Department and the UN to raise the level of concern about the situation within Burma; and when they know that we are channeling some of our relief and development funds to their needs, they are moved to the core of their being.