BANGKOK – In the past year Southeast Asia provided temporary shelter to two asylum seekers from the Middle East fleeing persecution. Hassan Alkontar and Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun plead for asylum from Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok airports.
They were resettled to Canada. But this has led to a backlash online in Malaysia, Thailand, and Canada — where some feel the two jumped the queue ahead of thousands waiting to be resettled.
But as Adam Bemma tells us, this isn’t the case at all. This story aired on Southeast Asia Dispatches Monday, January 28, 2019.
Adam Bemma is a journalist, humanitarian, and media consultant based in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Adam Bemma 
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