The Star

Wednesday April 7, 2010

PETALING JAYA:

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says only a small number of refugees are involved in begging.

UNHCR spokesperson Yante Ismail said investigations revealed that the lack of employment opportunities made them beg.

She said most refugees were hardworking and prepared to do odd-jobs for a living.

“Most of the women refugees work as cleaners in homes in order to keep going. They are not able to find jobs elsewhere since the UNHCR card does not give them the privilege to be formally employed,” she told Starprobe.

Yante said the refugee children, including those born here, had no access to formal education as their status was different from that of citizens or permanent residents.

The one advantage they had was a special discount for medical treatment at government hospitals, she said, adding that the UNHCR also provided them with free medical treatment at certain clinics assigned by the Commissioner.

“We also offer them financial aid during emergencies,” she said.

Asked how long the refugees were allowed to stay on, Yante said they could stay on for as long as their home country was not prepared to accept them.

In most cases, she said the refugees wanted to return to their homeland soon after seeking temporary asylum in another country, but political instability and other factors made them stay on for a longer period.

Meanwhile, Selangor Welfare Department director Adnan Abu Bakar said the sight of women begging with their children was just too much for Malaysians to bear.

He said with Malaysians being a generous lot, there was “good money to be made from begging.”

“Malaysians are kind and highly sympathetic, especially towards women and children. So many (refugees) take advantage of the situation to earn easy money,” he said when contacted.

Adnan said the department conducted raids every month to round up beggars.

“We conducted close to 200 raids last year, but that did not stem these activities,” he said, adding that it was difficult to tackle the foreign beggar problem due to their status as refugees.

He said locals caught begging were sent to the Welfare Department for counselling or to rehabilitation centres, while illegal immigrants were handed to the Immigration Department.

“However, the solution for refugees is tough, as they hold passports. Many also return to begging after their release. Our department has its limitations,” he said.

Besides Klang, there were also a high number of foreign beggars in Hulu Selangor, Ampang and Petaling Jaya.

Klang Municipal Council public relations director Norfiza Mahfiz said most Myanmar beggars in Klang had been rounded up by the authorities during raids.

She said the beggars were caught during joint raids conducted by the council, Welfare Services Department and the police.

“These beggars seem to have no other means of survival except to seek alms,” she added.

Klang district police chief Asst Comm Mat Yusop said police had so far not received reports of syndicates being involved in begging activities, but would investigate the matter.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/4/7/starprobe/6002469&sec=starprobe