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Violations of Civil Liberties and Harsh Living Conditions in Malaysia

The majority of new arrivals from Aceh are living in conditions of insecurity and poverty in Malaysia. Due to their vulnerable and illegal status, unemployment is high and external humanitarian assistance is rare.

Acehnese in Malaysia live primarily in two types of settings: camps of laborers around construction sites and settled communities. Labor camps consist of temporary housing built by workers on the fringes of Malaysia’s many massive construction projects, where some of them work. In settled communities, new arrivals often join Acehnese who have lived there for years, some of whom have permanent resident status in Malaysia.

In both settings Human Rights Watch found that only a fraction of newly arrived Acehnese works at any given time. Those who work are expected to help pay for those who are unable, as well as send money home through banks, friends, or intermediaries. Many of those who spoke to Human Rights Watch had worked only a few days out of the previous month, and recent arrivals tended to have found no work at all. One man described the conditions:

The majority do not work. I have a UNHCR letter, but there’s no stamp from Malaysia, so it doesn’t help us find work. We have to work with one eye open (kerja tenggok) and if we see the police we have to run. We look for opportunities. Work at the market is from midnight to 8:00 a.m. About half of us worked half of last night. We get ten Ringgit (U.S.$2.60) if we work half the night, or thirty (U.S.$7.80) till the end. When the police came we had to take off. We cook for ourselves. Sometimes newcomers don’t know where to get work, and usually need help with food.⁵⁰

Some Malaysian organizations have provided clothing and food to assist the Acehnese. However, because the government of Malaysia does not make a distinction between illegal migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees, provisions in Malaysian law⁵¹ make it difficult for UNHCR and humanitarian agencies to provide asylum seekers and refugees with assistance. A formal and comprehensive humanitarian assistance program is essential in order to adequately address the food, shelter, and medical problems faced by the Acehnese.

Bribery and extortion

In addition to arrest and the prospect of being forcibly returned to Aceh, many Acehnese who enter illegally or whose visas have lapsed are targets of extortion from Malaysian police. One man told Human Rights Watch:

I was arrested in the street, by myself. I was taken to the station from 8:00 a.m. to noon. I had to pay 800 Ringgit (U.S.$210) before I was released. I was hit [pukul] in the street, but not at the station. They were just putting me in the mood to pay them off. I showed them my [“under consideration”] UNHCR letter, but they said, “That’s useless” [tak ada fungsi]. They checked my criminal record at the station but it was clean. They asked for money in the street, but I gave it to them in the station, after I phoned a friend to bring the money. But I gave it to one of the police officers when the supervisor wasn’t there. This was two weeks ago, on Saturday night. Other people can pay them off with ten Ringgit; for Acehnese it’s never less than 300.⁵²

Another man told Human Rights Watch:

In June I was arrested by three policemen. They asked for money. I was alone in the road and they stopped me and asked for my Malaysian ID card. I don’t have a Malaysian ID card. I explained to them the problem in Aceh. I said that I could not return to my village, I will be shot. They clearly understood and released me. But they still asked for money. They asked for 200 Ringgit but I didn’t have it. I gave 50 Ringgit. It was all I had, but they released me.⁵³

One twenty-one-year-old man told Human Rights Watch:

It was a Friday, October 10. Malaysian police arrested me in Ulu Klang, with some friends, three of us. They asked for documents. I gave them my passport and my airline ticket and they let me go. But my two friends were not released. Their visas had already expired. They were both taken to a detention camp. When the police were interrogating me they took 25 Ringgit. After they returned my documents, one policeman gave me back 4 Ringgit so that I could get back here. But it’s not safe here. The police often enter, looking for Acehnese. It’s not every day, but many times every month.⁵⁴

Indonesian settlements in Malaysia are also regularly subjected to both official and unofficial police raids. In one settlement that Human Rights Watch visited, refugees said that men in plainclothes had visited the night before. They had detained one man and forced him to pay them off. Residents at the settlement were not certain whether or not these men were police, but explained that it didn’t matter, as they could not face the risk of not paying, no matter who they were. Another refugee told Human Rights Watch:

Before there were two Malaysian police here saying that they were UNHCR. They asked for a GAM T-shirt and asked to see our Malaysian identity cards. I saw them but we didn’t give them anything. But this is our experience. So, if people don’t want to give you information, it is because of this.⁵⁵

One man described a Malaysian police raid on a workers camp:

I used to live one kilometer from here. They burnt eight huts and the canteen. I lost all my clothes, my passport, everything! Everybody ran. It was the Malaysian police. . . We all stayed in the empty canteen. This was two months ago. The police came in one month ago. There were no people there at the time, and they burnt the remaining four structures.⁵⁶

Despite these hardships refugees repeatedly told Human Rights Watch that a difficult life in Malaysia was more preferable to returning to Aceh. As one man said:

It is like this, it is just like this. It is better to be arrested and detained here [Malaysia] than go back there [Aceh].⁵⁷