VZCZCXRO7973
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHKL #0846 2960759
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 230759Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3302
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS KUALA LUMPUR 000846 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG MY
SUBJECT: NGO CAMPAIGN TO GET MALAYSIA TO SIGN U.N. REFUGEE 
CONVENTION KICKS OFF 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: On October 15, PolOff attended the opening 
of a photography exhibition covering Burmese refugees in 
Malaysia organized by SUARAM, one of Malaysia,s leading 
human rights organizations.  The keynote speaker, opposition 
Member of Parliament Charles Santiago, helped launch the 
NGO,s campaign to have the GOM recognize refugees and sign 
the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and 
its 1967 Protocol. Although such a move is unlikely, 
opposition parties have used the refugee issue to attack the 
ruling party's human rights record.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On October 15, PolOff attended the local NGO 
Malaysian People's Voice (SUARAM) opening of a ten-day 
photography exhibition entitled, "No Refuge ) Burmese 
Refugees in Malaysia" at the Annex Gallery at Kuala Lumpur's 
Central Market.  The exhibition included photographs of Chin 
and Rohingya refugees living in Malaysia.  SUARAM, the 
leading Malaysian human rights NGO, used the opening of this 
exhibit to launch a petition to have the GOM recognize 
refugees and to sign the 1951 Convention Relating to the 
Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol.  SUARAM is 
collecting written as well as online signatures at 
www.petitiononline.com/1951Conv.  SUARAM hopes to collect at 
least 10,000 signatures from Malaysians by May 31, 2010 in 
order to submit them to Prime Minister Najib on World Refugee 
Day on June 20, 2010. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Member of Parliament Charles Santiago of the 
opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) served as the 
keynote speaker for the exhibition opening.  Santiago became 
a member of parliament in March 2008 when he wrestled away 
one of the National Front's key parliament constituencies, 
Kelang Selangor.  Prior to politics, Santiago received his 
master and bachelor degrees from the New School of Social 
Research in New York and worked as NGO activist concentrating 
on refugee and trafficking in persons issues.  He opened his 
remarks by stating, "Burmese refugees come to Malaysia 
expecting to find a tolerant country, but you need only look 
at these pictures around you to see that we are a selfish 
country."  He went on to praise the U.S. Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee's April Report on "Trafficking and 
Extortion of Burmese Migrants in Malaysia and Southern 
Thailand", the Department's 2009 Trafficking in Persons 
Report, and Tenaganita's publication of "Revolving Door" for 
shedding light on an issue that the GOM has long tried to 
ignore and pretend was not there.  Santiago added that the 
situation in Burma was at the heart of this refugee problem 
and that both the GOM and ASEAN have a shared responsibility 
to help resolve this issue.  He closed by stating that "a 
country is measured by how it protects those who are most 
marginalized, oppressed, and discriminated against" and 
called for a signing of the 1951 Convention Relating to the 
Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Background: Malaysia is not a signatory to the 
Convention.  The GOM has historically justified its failure 
to do so by claiming such action would open the floodgates 
and result in a significant increase of refugees travelling 
to Malaysia.  In both 2008 and 2009, the World Refugee Survey 
placed Malaysia in the list of "Worst Places for Refugees." 
This is a politically sensitive issue for the GOM and it is 
doubtful that there will be any immediate steps taken on this 
initiative.  Opposition parties, leading NGOs, and SUHAKAM 
have latched on to this issue and have argued that if the GOM 
wants to be considered a responsible member of the 
international community it needs to sign and ratify the 
Convention. 
KEITH