REIMAGINING REFUGEE INTEGRATION, REALIZING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS Progress and Barriers in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and JapaneT Meg RN Oo OT ea Ld Refugee populations play an important role in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (S0Gs), When refugee populations are highly integrated into a host country’ societal structure, they serve as facilitators and/or ‘actors in fulfiling the SDGs, both within their own communities and in the hosting society at large. In countries where refugee populations are not officially recognized, they are often left behind. This book presents empirical ‘and conceptual studies of current refugee integration and SDG-related initiatives in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Japan. We collectively argue that, while refugee integration is still viable, challenges and barriers remain systemic. This necessitates the reimagining of current refugee integration initiatives and leveraging the collective vision of the SDGs. ANDIKA AB, WAHAB holds a PhD in Anthropology and International Relations from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), and currently working as a Research Fellow with the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), UKM. His field of research includes forced and labour migration; Corporate respect to human rights; and corporate anthropology which ete aC ee OM Lee sustainability. He is currently a member of the Global Business and Human Rights Scholars Association (GBHRSA) and the alumnus of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights Asia Human Rights Research Initiative eMC UMC Cte Mas ee ed Asia-Europe Insitute (AEI), Universiti of Malaya (UM), and is currently a PhD ‘candidate at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), UKM. Her area of research includes international political economy, specifically trade agreements; anthropology and sociology. yay ERBIT Las Poul B39 A Lary Peg meer ayirst Printing, 2022 Cetakan Pertama / First Printing, Hak Cipta/ Copyright Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 2022 ‘Tiada bahagian daripada terbitan ini boleh diterbitkan semula, aranan untuk pengeluaran atau ditukarkan ke dalam sebarang bentuk atau dengan varang alat juga pun, sama ada dengan cara eleKtronik, gambar sera rakaman dan ee sebagainya tanpa Kebenaran bertlis daripada Penerbit UKM terlebih dahuly, Hak cipta terpetihara. i ion may be reproduced or transmitted rights reserved. No part of this publication may be c Aig Ne Peon, lero or mechanial including poco, aoe any information storage and retrieval system, without permission i in writing, from Penerbit UKM. Diterbitkan di Malaysia oleh / Published in Malaysia by PENERBIT UNIVERSITI KEBANGSAAN MALAYSIA 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, MALAYSIA ‘tp://ukmpress.ukm.my e-mek: penerbit@ukm.edu.my Penerbit UKM adalah anggota / is a member of the MAJLIS PENERBITAN ILMIAH MALAYSIA / MALAYSIAN SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING COUNCIL PERSATUAN PENERBIT BUKU MALAYSIA / MALAYSIAN BOOK PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION No. Ahli/ Membership No. 198302 tur huruf oleh / Typeset by PENERBIT UNIVERSITI KEBANGSAAN MALAYSIA 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, MALAYSIA. Dicetak di Malaysia oleh / Printed in Malaysia by PEWARIS GEMILANG SDN. BHD No. 27G, Jalan Putra 8, Taman Kajang Putra, 43000 Kajang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, MALAYSIA. Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia Data Pengkatalogan-dalam-Penerbitan / Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Reimagining Refugee Integration, Realizing Sustainable Development Goals : Progress and Barriers in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Japan ! edited by Andika Ab. Wahab, Farhana Khalid, 1.Refugees. 2. Sustainable development. 4. Government publications--Malaysia, |. Andika Ab. Wahab, TF ene ‘arhana Khalid. 3. Rohingya (Burmese people). ISBN 978-967-251.797.9Contents List of Tables & Figures List of Abbreviation Preface ... 1 CHAPTER 1 Introduction ... 15 Andika Ab. Wahab & Farhana Abdul Khalid CHAPTER 2 _ Exploring the Concepts of Rohingya Refugee Integration in Peninsular Malaysia ... 30 Balgis Aini Mustafa, Abdul Latiff Ahmad & Jamaluddin Aziz CHAPTER3 A Pathway of Education for Rohingya Refugees in Malaysia: Work in Progress ... 43 Aizat Khairi CHAPTER 4 Rights at Work for Refugees in Malaysia: Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 8 ... 56 Aslam Abd Jalil CHAPTERS _ Providing Humanitarian Assistance to Refugees in Malaysia: A Case Study of Global Peace Mission Malaysia ... 75 Noor Atika Shafinaz Nazri CHAPTER 6 Integrating Refugee Children in Indonesia through Schooling: Between Legality, Opportunity, and Intricacy ... 89 Dio Herdiawan Tobing{6/ Reimagining Refugee Inegration, Realizing Sustainable Development Goals CHAPTER 7 CHAPTER 8 CHAPTER 9 CHAPTER 10 ‘The Rohingya Refugees in Aceh, Indonesia: ‘The Challenges and Chances of De Facto Local Integration ... 103 Muhammad Riza Nurdin Barriers and Bridges: Urban Refugees and Labour Market Integration in Thailand ... 1/9 Bhanubhatra Jittiang Social Integration and the Refugee Higher Education Programme in Japan ... 135 Abraha Desale Tesfamariam Lessons and Future Research ... 150 Andika Ab. Wahab & Farhana Abdul Khalid References... 157 List of Contributors ... 179 Index 181Chapter 7 Introduction Andika Ab.Wahab & Farhana Abdul Khalid Who are Refugees, and Where They Seek Protection? The stark reality is that the number of people fleeing political persecution and civil-war is unlikely to decrease in the near future On-going geopolitical uncertainties, ethnic conflicts and human rights violations occurring in almost all parts of the world make it impossible for many to stay and face the unprecedented exploitation and persecution at home. These unfortunate segments of society then flee to seek asylum and international protection abroad. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has further complicated how the international community perceives, acts and reacts to international mobility, in particular, voluntary and/or forced migration. As travel restrictions (both domestic and cross-border) are imposed to combat the pandemic, the opportunities to escape and/or recover from the severe consequences of the outbreak are either limited or simply unavailable. To ensure that people affected by the current and future pandemics are provided with appropriate protection, it is high time to re-think the question of who are refugees and what protections they are entitled to. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), through the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees 1951 (hereinafter referred to as Refugee Convention 1951), defines a refugee as “... someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group,Seene eeerghapter 2° ts Exploring the Concepts of Rohingya Refugee Integration in Peninsular Malaysia Balais Aini Mustafa, Abdul Latiff Ahmad & Jamaluddin Aziz Introduction Global refugee crises raise some of the most alarming issues of the contemporary world. According to Mercy Corps (2020), the world’s five biggest refugee crises involving refugee communities from Syria (6.6 million refugees), Afghanistan (2.7 million refugees), South Sudan (2.2 million refugees), Myanmar (1.0 million refugees), and Somalia (0.9 million refugees). Refugees are among the most vulnerable people in the world. The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees defined a ‘refugee’ as someone who is unable or unwilling to retum to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being Persecuted for reasons of ethnicity, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion (UNHCR 2010). The 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol constitute the global legal framework for protecting refugees. Indeed, states that a” ao to a Convention and/or the Protocol are obligated to do so. , fe eee Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR The UNHCR’s pinay = 951 Convention and its 1967 Frais well-being of regees as aupese is to safeguard the rights | i that allow refugees to rebate 802! is to secure durable soluto to oad their lives in dignity and peace. E sth : a MBCA assists refugees to find a solu * hint 22 Voluntary repatriation, local integrate’ and resettlement 5 are ° & third country. Yet for several million refsChapter 3 A Pathway of Education for Rohingya Refugees in Malaysia: Work in Progress? Aizat Khairi Introduction About 79.5 million people in many parts of the world have been forced to flee their place of origin, making the refugee issue one of unprecedented global crisis (UNHCR 2020). While people flee their homes for such reasons as natural disasters and war, the main causes of people becoming refugees are such factors as government continuous persecution and human rights violations (Aizat and Andika 2018), The UNHCR, through Article 1 of the 1951 Refugees Convention and 1967 Protocol, defines a refugee as follows: “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, is ‘unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result fof such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to retum to it” (UNHCR 2009). The 2030 Agenda or commonly known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 25 September 2015, has identified 17 goals to be achieved for all people around the world (United Nations 2015). There is a greater need for the SDGs to include the promotion and protection of the rights and well-being of refugees, internally displaced persons and other forms of statelessness as a common agenda._Chapter# Rights at Work for Refugees in Malaysia: Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 8 Aslam Abd Jalil Introduction ‘As Malaysian law does not distinguish between refugees and migrants, refugees are deemed ‘illegal migrants’, also known as “Pendatang ‘Asing Tanpa Izin” (PATI). Malaysian National Security Council (NSC) Order 23 classifies refugees as “UNHCR card-holders illegal migrants”. Without a domestic asylum system, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) becomes the agency that administers the refugee status determination (RSD) process and issues cards that provide refugees with a modicum of immunity from immigration-telated prosecution (Nah, 2014: 151; UNHCR 2016. These UNHCR cards, however, only accord the refugees with limited rights to healthcare and education with no right to legal employment ‘As of the end of October 2020, UNHCR has registered 178,450 refugees and asylum-seekers, with over 86% of them coming from Myanmar (UNHCR 2020). With no legal right to work, the refugees in Malaysia work informally in the 3D sectors, that is, jobs that are dirty, dangerous aM difficult, and often shunned by the locals. Informal workers are defin as those in employment not covered under the national laws (World Bank Group 2019: 86). This means that they do not pay income (® and are not eligible for any social protection as well as employment benefits, In 2017, more than 5.6 million individuals were engaged informal employment and they constituted 39% of total employment !° Malaysia (World Bank Group 2019: 52).Chapter 5 Providing Humanitarian Assistance to Refugees in Malaysia: A Case Study of Global Peace Mission Malaysia Noor Atika Shafinaz Nazri Introduction While Malaysia does not officially recognize refugees, it has been receiving refugees since its independence in 1957. After the fall of the Democratic Government of South Vietnam in April 1975, there was a massive exodus of “boat people” entering many neighbouring countries including Malaysia. In response to the influx of the Vietnamese “boat people”, Malaysia designated Bidong Island, off the coast of Terengganu, as a temporary shelter for the refugees (Baharuddin and Enh 2018). As their numbers reached upwards of hundreds of thousands, the Malaysian government permitted UNHCR to open an office in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, to coordinate and address humanitarian issues related to the Vietnamese refugees. ‘As of 2020, there were about 180,000 refugees in Malaysia. As it is almost impossible for UNHCR to assist all refugees, NGOs play a complementary role to fulfil gaps in humanitarian assistance. ‘As Galtung (1986; 5) stated: “what the NGOs can do for the United Nations (UN) is more significant than ... what the UN can do for the NGOs”. However, the assistance provided by NGOs often focus on the refugees’ basic needs instead of what the refugees require to enable them to live in dignity, safe and protected. Hence, this article intends to determine the forms of humanitarian assistance a Malaysian NGO provides to refugees in Malaysia and to identify the refugees’ requirements in the context of the SDGs.Providing Humanitarian Assistance to Refitgees in Malaysia / 89 Chapter 6 Integrating Refugee Children in Indonesia through Schooling: Between Legality, Opportunity and Intricacy Dio Herdiawan Tobing Introduction Although Indonesia is not a party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (hereafter referred to as the 1951 Refugee Convention) and its additional protocol, it is a major transit point (as are Malaysia and Thailand) in Southeast A: for refugees. During the 1979 refugee crisis following the end of the Vietnam war, about 43,000 ‘boat people’ seeking international protection arrived in Indonesia from Vietnam, Like other Southeast Asian nations, Indonesia chose to pursue a policy of accommodation, offering temporary (Tricessria, Zayzda and Prabaningtyas 2015) rather than permanent resettlement. Indonesia has persistently objected to the permanent settlement of refugees within its territory. This reluctance arose from the belief that Southeast Asian countries (including Indonesia) are already densely populated and all possible resources should be reserved for the use of their own populations and to ensure political stability (Davies 2008). To date, Indonesia hosts a total of 14,032 refugees and asylum- seckers. About 10,693 of these individuals have been deemed eligible to apply for resettlement, while another 3,339 others are stil considered as ‘asylum-seekers’ (UNHCR 2019). Of this number, around 28 per cent are children and the rest are adults. These numbers are considered ‘low’ when compared to the size of the refugee population in Malaysia (around 170,000) and Thailand (96,000) (UNHCR 2019).Chapter 7 The Rohingya Refugees in Aceh, Indonesia: The Challenges and Chances of De Facto Local Integration Muhammad Riza Nurdin Introduction “Even for 100 years they can sit [stay] here [in Aceh]. No problem. It’s up to the Indonesian government to accept them. as either guests, illegal migrants, Or... permanent residents” {hoping for a harmonious life with the Rohingya} (overview with an Acehnese informant, Lhokseumawe on 17 November 2020), Despite the fact that Indonesia is not a State Party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of the Refugees and 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of the Refugees, Indonesia has been a major refuugee destination in Southeast Asia. In search of new homes, perhaps Australia or nowadays even Malaysia (which is also not a signatory to the Convention), hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers have landed in Indonesia over the decades. As of July 2020, Indonesia hosts 13,653 registered refugees (UNHCR Indonesia 2020). In the past, especially from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, Indonesia had accommodated more than a hundred thousand Indochinese asylum seekers on Galang island (in Batam off Sumatera island), before sending them, in coordination with the UNHCR, to third countries. Since the late 2000s, there have been waves of irregular migrants arriving via the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea. Thees Site eo eee parriers and Bridges: Urban Refugees and Labour Market Integration in Thailand Bhanubhatra Jittiang Introduction In their ground-breaking book, “Refuge,” Betts and Colliers (2017) highlight the wrecking of the global refugee regime. They argue that the three durable solutions envisioned by the UNHCR, namely, voluntary repatriation, local integration, and resettlement, have gradually morphed into a regime of “long-term encampment, urban destitution, or perilous journey” (Betts and Colliers 20172: 9). Both scholars eventually call for the global restructuring of refugee assistance, suggesting that this humanitarian issue should be reconceptualized as a development challenge. Betts and Colliers highlight education and prospects of employment as keys to a long-lasting resolution and explore the possibility of integrating the forcibly displaced in their first country of asylum—mostly in the global South—with financial support from countries in the global north. Although many scholars are skeptical of Betts and Colliers’ optimism, with many questioning the political will of receiving countries (e.g, Pascucci 2017; Yaghmaian 2017), some, with servations, have weleomed Betts and Colliers’ reframing of refugee ‘sistance in the development and integration realms (¢g., Mason 2018). The integration debate is far from new as it has emerged in {arious disciplines and among migration scholars for several decades. ing the 1990s, when there were significant annual increases in RS number of refugees, the focus on refugees as a distinct category = the integration of migrants was popular (Phillimore 2020) a ‘re numerous studies on the role of social networks (Ryan 2008) an “cessful integration outcomes (Portes and Zhou 1993; Esser 2006).—_ Sater Social Integration and the Refugee Higher Education Program in Japan Abraha Desale Tesfamariam Introduction Education is essential to our living healthy and productive lives (Spring 2000). Regarding refugees, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has stated that higher education opportunities can play an important role in the lives of refugees. With the required knowledge and skills, refugees can become future global leaders (Wright and Plasterer 2010). Personal and social development skills, for example, will increase the self-esteem of refugees, enabling them to be productive members of society. Also required are interpersonal skills which help them communicate casily with other people. With critical thinking skills, refugees will be capable of making well-informed decisions and acting responsibly, ‘specially when confronted with life’s difficulties and problems. The drive to provide refugees with educational opportunities have 'o be considered against the context of the increasing numbers of refugees worldwide, and increasing reluctance of states to accept them. As unrest, turbulence, terrorist attacks and civil conflicts increase worldwide, people flee these situations for more secure ones. As of mid-2020, there are more than 26.3 million refugees worldwide. 2emational relief agencies are oversees i yet they cannot 8 many refugees as they wish (UNHCR n.d. Iheeasing numbers of inet countries and the U.S. are reat '® accept asylum seekers, immigrants and refugees, even thous ey He Signatories to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and 8 ee sol0col. For example, on 30 January 2017, former Pres ee a Donald Trump attempted to ban refugee admissions from seveLessons and Future Research Andika ‘Ab.Wahab & Farhana Abdul Khalid Introduction ‘on discussed in this book are access tg employment, education, health, livelihood, social norms and the role of civil society in providing humanitarian assistance. These aspects of refugee integration have also been debated in other countries beyond the scope of this book (see Ager and Strang 2004). In this concluding chapter, we aim to draw several lessons from the authors’ contributions and relate them to on-going $DGs-related initiatives. We examine the symbiotic relationship between refugee integration and implementation of the SDGs, with the aim of elucidating further academic inquiries for future research. While the lessons derived from the authors’ contributions may be specific to their respective research context (e.g. country-specific), they may still generate productive academic inquiries in other refugee contexts (e.g., in other countries) beyond the scope of this book. The aspects of refugee integrati Lessons and Future Research We began by explaining in the Introduction the different contexts of refugee integration and refugee protection regimes in the four countries that are the focus of our publication, We explained how a country SUC as Japan, a state party to the Refugee Convention 1951, has implemented its own asylum system but still has a low refuge? acceptance rate during the past two to three decades. However, whe? i comes othe broad aspects of integration such as employment, healt aud cuca, the issues and challenges are almost identical. Dist™s Bi Perceptions of the refugees’ ability to contribute meaningfully