Joseph steps off the subway train onto Bangkok’s Chatuchak metro station platform. As the 29-year-old Laotian refugee exits to the street above he notices two men trailing behind him. Both men are carrying large suitcases that seem light to the…
Blog Archives
Caught in Sri Lanka’s anti-Muslim backlash, evicted refugees search for safe homes
NEGOMBO, Sri Lanka – Hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers in Sri Lanka have spent the past three months searching for safety across the island nation after being swept up in an anti-Muslim backlash following the April terrorist attacks that…
Tagged with: Easter Sunday bombings, Muslims, Refugees, Sri Lanka, The New Humanitarian
Posted in Print
Posted in Print
Rohingya Refugee Voices Amplify Across Southeast Asia
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…
Tagged with: Bangladesh, human rights, human trafficking, Malaysia, Myanmar, Refugees, Rohingya, Ziaur Rahman
Posted in Print
Posted in Print
Life as Afghan Refugees, depicted on Malay Stage
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…
Tagged with: Afghanistan, Bangkok Post, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Parastoo Theatre, Refugee Theatre, Refugees, Saleh Sepas, Theatre of the Oppressed
Posted in Print
Posted in Print
Thailand’s Urban Refugees, Migrant Workers and Stateless People
BANGKOK – The stench inside Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Centre is indescribable. The guards give detainees bright orange t-shirts – with a phone number printed on the front – to wear when they enter the IDC reception area. About a…
Airport Asylum Seekers Find Freedom – Southeast Asia Dispatches
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.…
Tagged with: asylum seekers, Bangkok, Hassan Al Kontar, human rights, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun, Refugees, Thailand
Posted in Radio
Posted in Radio
Syrian Stuck at Airport Turns to Social Media – Southeast Asia Dispatches
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…
Tagged with: canada, Hassan Al Kontar, human rights, Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia, Refugees, social media, Southeast Asia Dispatches
Posted in Radio
Posted in Radio
Rohingya Refugees Face New Threat in Bangladesh camps
COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh – Inside the sprawling Kutupalong refugee settlement, dust swirls around the barren hills where over half a million Rohingya Muslims have taken shelter after fleeing Myanmar’s Rakhine state. “Before this entire area was covered with trees,” said…
Tagged with: Bangladesh, Camp, human rights, Kutupalong, Myanmar, Refugees, Rohingya, UNHCR, volunteering
Posted in Print
Posted in Print
Indonesia’s Rohingya Refugees to Resettle to the U.S. or Remain?
In an archipelago with more islands than refugees, Indonesia is looking at ways to provide education, health and housing to its 13,800 registered refugees and asylum seekers. But advocates argue accessing livelihoods is the biggest unmet need. MEDAN, Indonesia – Muhammad…
Tagged with: asylum seekers, education, housing, human rights, Indonesia, Refugees, Rohingya
Posted in Print
Posted in Print
Refugees in Indonesia told assimilate but not settle
JAKARTA, Indonesia – Fatema Barbari tears up as she recounts how police forced her family and 50 other refugees to flee a makeshift camp outside the immigration detention center in Jakarta, Indonesia’s sprawling capital. “They ordered us to leave at…
Tagged with: Assimilation, human rights, Indonesia, Jakarta, Refugee detention, Refugees
Posted in Print
Posted in Print
 | Zafar Ahmad Abdul Gh… on Malaysia: Rohingya must be con… |
Adam Bemma 