Hopes shattered for Myanmar's Rohingya refugees who fled to Malaysia

Description: 

" Before he flew to Thailand on a fake Bangladeshi passport and then crossed into Malaysia, Mohammed Imran was one of the most influential Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. He headed an 18,000-strong camp and represented them on the big stage. In late 2017, at the peak of a mass exodus of Rohingya Muslims into Bangladesh fleeing violence in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, Imran paid traffickers $4,720 to be smuggled into Malaysia in search of a better life. Malaysia has become home to more than 100,000 Rohingya refugees, the second-highest number in the world, after Bangladesh, with most braving the Andaman Sea on rickety boats or paying human smugglers for fake travel documents. But Imran and nearly two dozen other Rohingya men Reuters spoke to in the Malaysian state of Penang said their hopes had been shattered because of a lack of jobs and harassment by police because they are deemed illegal immigrants. They tell friends and family to stay in Bangladesh, despite the hostile conditions there, and some are thinking of heading back. “I thought I would have a life here — basic things like freedom to work, freedom to move around without always worrying about being bullied by police,” said Imran, 30, sitting cross-legged in a run-down apartment he shares with three other Rohingya men..."

Source/publisher: 

"Japan Times" (Japan)

Date of Publication: 

2019-11-20

Date of entry: 

2019-11-24

Grouping: 

  • Individual Documents

Category: 

Countries: 

Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh

Language: 

English

Resource Type: 

text

Text quality: 

    • Good