We, the civil society groups in Singapore, appeal to the Singapore government to act with compassion, kindness and to take into consideration the urgent need to provide humanitarian assistance to all refugees.
By October 2012, Muslims of all ethnicities are being targeted in the worsening ethnic conflict in the Rakhine state of Myanmar, a member of ASEAN. Many are escaping violence that has reached almost genocide proportions. Unfortunately, ASEAN member states have shown that they not been taking care of victims of such conflicts in the past and have even forcibly deported some of these refugees back to their persecutors or areas of war and disaster. ASEAN member states must respect the rights of all refugees and the principle of non-refoulement. Whether their countries have ratified the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol and Article 3 of the 1984 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, countries have obligations to refugees and to cooperate with the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) under the terms of the UN Charter and relevant General Assembly resolutions.
Recently, on 5 December 2012, 40 boatpeople were rescued from the Andaman Sea off the coast of Myanmar by a Vietnamese registered vessel MV Nosco Victory at 6pm. 9 others were rescued in a second boat. These were the only survivors of 207 Rohingya Muslims who were trying to escape from ethnic unrest in the Rakhine province of Myanmar when their boat capsized. They had been out in the open sea for 30 hours before they were rescued.
The Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) of Singapore refused to allow the rescue ships to dock as they explained to media that there were people on board “who do not appear to be persons eligible to enter Singapore.”
As civil society, we would like to express our concern at the callousness at which the MPA had refused to allow the ships to even dock. Singapore could have provided much needed medical aid or supplies to the refugees even if she had disallowed them entry into the country.
The Singapore government should review the regulations with which asylum seekers are being processed and uphold their basic human rights. We strongly urge the government to provide future asylum seekers with assistance while the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is processing their claims. Even though Singapore may not be a party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, it should respect the principle of non-refoulement, and provide support and assistance before the refugees can be properly re-settled in other countries that have ratified the Convention.
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