Seeking Refuge in Malaysia
AUTHOR: Eileen Chew Abul Hussin bin Noor Mohammad poses for a portrait at his home in Penang, Malaysia on 17 August 2018. After years of trying, his family is finally preparing to leave Malaysia for a new life in Canada. Eileen Chew Mohd Rafik still recalls the day when Buddhist militants pursued him with a machete in his hometown in Buthidaung township in Rakhine State in Myanmar. His abdomen and shoulder still bear indelible scars from that traumatic experience. It led him to flee Myanmar for Malaysia in 2012. Two years later, his wife and two children eventually reunited with him—taking the same route by boat to Thailand, then overland into Malaysia, with the help of human traffickers. Rafik and his family are just one example of thousands who have been pushed out of their homes. According to a report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), over 723,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to neighbouring countries like ...