Saturday, May 14, 2022

Govt didn’t help Rohingya assimilate with general population, says Kula



Govt didn’t help Rohingya assimilate with general population, says Kula


Former human resources minister M Kula Segaran says Rohingya refugees did not feel secure when sent to work in plantations.


PETALING JAYA: A 2017 pilot project aimed at helping Rohingya refugees earn a living in the country failed because the government did not help the community assimilate with the general population, a former human resources minister said.

M Kula Segaran said under the project, Rohingya refugees were sent to the plantation and manufacturing sectors to acquire skills – apart from income – before being relocated to a third country.


He said that in some cases, the Rohingya fled from the project as only about 50 refugees were sent to a plantation, and this gave them little to no sense of security as the community was too small.

“You need a sizable number of people for this community to feel safe,” he told FMT.


M Kula Segaran.

He believed the absence of resources such as mosques and schools in the estates also contributed to the Rohingya’s inability to assimilate with the local residents.

Kula was asked to comment on the shortage of workers in the plantation and manufacturing sectors and subsequent calls for refugees to be roped in.

On April 22, the All-Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia on Sustainable Development Goals urged Putrajaya to work towards integrating Rohingya refugees into local society. It said the refugees could fulfil the nation’s demand for workers.

Later, the Malaysian Employers Federation called on the government to allow refugees and undocumented migrants to be recruited to work in sectors such as the plantations industry.


Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) president Soh Thian Lai had then suggested that refugees attend a “work and cultural orientation” to familiarise themselves with the Malaysian working environment.

But Adrian Pereira, the executive director for North-South Initiative – a migrant rights NGO – said cultural integration “goes both ways”.

“Before the government decides whether to integrate refugees into the labour force, they need proper laws for refugees, where integration must be formalised and there is a programme with experts involved,” he said.

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