Rowing back on Rohingya

LAST week’s article ended on the optimistic note that we in Malaysia are not as afflicted as some other countries, including supposedly advanced democracies, in terms of racism and xenophobia that is hindering a broadly collective effort to defeat Covid-19. Soon after I submitted it, however, I was forwarded virulent anti-Rohingya posts written by Malaysians on Facebook and Twitter.

Since returning to Malaysia in 2007, I’ve intermittently been exploring refugee issues. Primarily this was through being a Trustee of Yayasan Chow Kit, which provides wide-ranging support to disadvantaged, stateless and refugee children while advocating policy change. Later, the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) co-founded Ideas Academy, a private learning centre open to all, including refugee children (so far two groups have graduated with their IGCSEs), which now runs independently. Despite significant progress, many Malaysians are still unconvinced that letting refugee children go to school is better than the alternatives of increased social disorder and criminality that affect everyone.