Posted under Everyday Life & My Thoughts
“A refugee is a person who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.” – 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, Article 1(a)(2) – Rita Aziz.
World Refugee Day is on 20th June and is celebrated every year. This year’s theme is hope – Keeping the flame of hope alive. Well this may have passed like months ago as we move in to the new year but this actually stuck in my mind for quite some time. I read about this in the August issue of Chip Photo-video magazine.
The photographer that was commissioned by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) this year was Sarah Hoibak and the title of this year’s exhibition is “Making the Invisible, Visible. A Glimpse of Urban Refugees in Malaysia”.
In Malaysia there are about 46,000 refugees registered by the UNCHR. Majority of them are from the Indonesian province of Aceh and Northern Rakhine State and other areas in Myanmar as well as other countries. They live among us in low-cost apartments, urban villages or housing estates as there are no refugee camps in Malaysia. However they do not have access to legal employment and public education system. They are often mistaken for being a migrant. The only difference is that refugees do not choose to leave their countries; they are compelled to do so because of difficult living conditions in their countries such as armed conflict, serious public disorder and complex human rights issues, rather than the economic migrant.
The article explains all these and so does the exhibition online. The article shed light of this matter to me as I never knew of this matter or in depth. These refugees though being far away from their families and homeland show extraordinary courage and will power. There is one line in the article depicted from “Face to Face: Confronting the Humanity of Refugees in Malaysia by Bernice Chauly and UNCHR, it is a testimony from one of the refugees
We don’t want charity, we don’t want to beg for help. Let us work and we will take care of ourselves
We have often looked at things from one perspective and we seldom see it in another light. The thing is, we always tend to judge ever so quickly when we are faced with something or even someone. The fact that there are refugees means that we as humans are still not living in harmony and peace. I believe that the refugees themselves, even though being in a foreign country with limited resources and away from everything dear to them, they would still like to stand on their own feet and make things meet.
The will power in them is so great that we should learn from them. They are living in such harsh conditions, both physically and emotionally but then, they keep their fingers crossed and hopes for the better everyday, day by day, working their way through it.
I truly salute them for their courage and their will to survive. I hope that I will have that courage and will power too, not that I hope to be a refugee, but it proofs to be a trade we should all carry in us, don’t you think so.
Take a look at some of the photographs taken by Sarah Hoibak in the link below. Some of them really touched me and explains in a visual view of what they are going through. Despite of all that, there is still an air of hope and what can I say… the photographs say it all.
may on 23 Oct 2006 at 23:29:03 228 #
I hope they’re able to earn a good living no matter where they are… and that goes for all of us!
bunnywunny on 23 Oct 2006 at 23:45:03 239 #
They deserve to be saluted for their courage and will to survive, not reviled. Yes some of them contribute to social problems but one swallow does not make a flock, and we should not use one brush to paint the entire populationi. Given an option, who would choose to be a refugee?
I think empathy is too scarce. And the great failing of society is, despite all the so-called sophisticated education, the inability to produce a breed of scholars and white collars who can put themselves in another’s shoes.
Mr.Goober on 24 Oct 2006 at 01:04:12 294 #
yes, truly this is something to think about instead of hearing the media.
i know of some that were paid peanuts to do hard chores..pity.
stev on 24 Oct 2006 at 10:58:02 706 #
laments of a sad state of world we live in
46k. interesting.
to understand how difficult it can be to leave the soil one is born in due to duress. hmm…
petite on 24 Oct 2006 at 11:39:45 735 #
sarah hoibak took some great photos of the refugees that were able to show different aspects of their lives - the hardness of it, the light moments, even the glimmers of hope. i hope that, along with other projects, this will indeed help make the “invisible refugees” in malaysia become more visible.
_butt on 24 Oct 2006 at 13:29:44 812 #
hope for the refugees.. the photos definitely speaks for itself..
zeroimpact on 24 Oct 2006 at 17:44:52 989 #
may
Yes… I believe they are just waiting for the chance
And we are too
zeroimpact on 24 Oct 2006 at 17:50:26 993 #
bunnywunny
No one wants to be a refugee and they are truely remarkable and a believer of faith and hope. We tend to be judgemental when one egg is bad don’t we…
All these education did not emphasize on the correct thing… they are feeding loads of information and leaving out the human values… what a system.
zeroimpact on 24 Oct 2006 at 17:51:50 994 #
Mr.Goober
It’s good to think about it and of coz to recognize their existence…
zeroimpact on 24 Oct 2006 at 17:53:32 995 #
stev
Somethings we cannot understand by mere words and pictures
But trying to understand it is a start
zeroimpact on 24 Oct 2006 at 17:55:11 996 #
petite
Yes… she did captured my heart with those images and I hope these projects will in turn educate the mass public of the invisible community.
zeroimpact on 24 Oct 2006 at 17:56:21 997 #
butt
Yes… hope is what they are living with everyday
Photographs can do wonders at times, no….
Pink Cotton on 24 Oct 2006 at 19:52:31 078 #
i guess the reputation and impression the majority has on refugees and immigrants are being tainted due to the immoral acts or crimes done by a minority of them…
people immediately shun them when they do see refugees instead of helping them out
which is why they r suffering like that lo =\
lynnx01 on 24 Oct 2006 at 20:50:05 118 #
Whoa.. I never even knew there’s a Refugee Day.
zeroimpact on 24 Oct 2006 at 22:22:56 182 #
Pink Cotton
Yes… the distinction between refugee and immigrants are not well defined in us…
I guess we should think a bit further and try not to be judgemental as well as help if we can
zeroimpact on 24 Oct 2006 at 22:23:35 183 #
lynnx
Now you know
_butt on 25 Oct 2006 at 01:11:05 299 #
eh? why no?
zeroimpact on 25 Oct 2006 at 09:51:06 660 #
butt
LOL
I think it should be noh…
Anyway… I do believe that photographs speaks a lot