BANGKOK — The 2017 Rohingya humanitarian crisis caused by Myanmar is not only affecting Bangladesh, which has taken in 740,000 refugees, but it’s also causing strife in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Despite Myanmar’s alleged attempts at repatriation, Rohingya have stayed put…
Popular Parastoo Theatre group gives voice to the refugee experience. BANGKOK – Live at this year’s Refugee Fest in Malaysia is Parastoo Theatre group. In the Dari language of Afghanistan, “Parastoo” means swallow bird. “They are birds who fly and…
KUALA LUMPUR – Syrian refugee Hasan Al Akraa has become something of a minor celebrity in his adopted home of Malaysia. The 19-year-old is a prominent face in the country’s refugee community. Since fleeing the Syrian civil war with his…
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.…
Al Kontar, 37, had been living in Kuala Lumpur International Airport since March, after being denied entry to Cambodia. Bangkok, Thailand – Syrian refugee Hassan Al Kontar was arrested on Monday by Malaysian police for remaining in a “forbidden area”…
KUALA LUMPUR – Thirty-seven year-old Syrian asylum seeker Hassan Al Kontar uses social media to share his story of life at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Because of Hassan’s posts, volunteers from Malaysia to Canada have taken up his cause. Adam…
KUALA LUMPUR – Hassan Al Kontar is a 37-year-old Syrian living at Kuala Lumpur International Airport for six months. Human rights defenders inside Malaysia have advised him not to seek asylum in the country because it’s not a signatory to…
Experts fear a return of the kind of desperation that fed the 2015 boat crisis as the storms hit Bangladesh’s coast. BANGKOK, Thailand – Torrential rains along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border are threatening to make an already grim situation for the nearly…
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Inside a YMCA gymnasium, an actress takes the stage and the audience goes quiet. Members of Malaysia’s state security forces are in attendance. The scene set is a family living room. An actress mimes as if…
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – “People always ask me, why are you helping refugees when there are people, here at home, who need help? “This is home for refugees”, said Heidy Quah, recipient of the 2017 Queen’s Young Leaders Award for…
 | Zafar Ahmad Abdul Gh… on Malaysia: Rohingya must be con… |
Adam Bemma 