By Sian Powell

ALAM Shamsul Alam ran for his life. He ran barefoot across paddy fields for kilometres, then leaped into the sea and swam for two hours in a bid for freedom. He was eventually picked up by fishermen and handed to the police.

According to Malaysia's The Star newspaper, the Burmese asylum-seeker was riding his motorbike in Penang on the weekend when he clipped a car. Apparently he didn't have a motorbike licence, but instead of apologising and offering to pay for the damage, the 26-year-old panicked and fled. He is probably now languishing in an immigration detention camp.

The refugees and asylum-seekers in Malaysia fear the police and the government authorities with a deep and abiding anxiety. They have few rights, few avenues of appeal. They live in the community but they are not legally permitted to work or to send their children to government schools.


Read the full article