WHO SHOULD PLAY THE ROLE TOWARDS EDUCATION PROVISION FOR ROHINGYA CHILDREN IN TRANSIT COUNTRIES? CASE OF MALAYSIA

Abstract

Although Malaysia is not party to the 1951 Refugee Convention nor its 1967 Protocol and does not have an asylum system to regulate the status and rights of refugees, however, Malaysia is still a preferred destination for Muslim Rohingyas fleeing from the hardship and violence in Myanmar. In the last two decades, statistics from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that refugees from Myanmar have arrived in droves and the figure has increased from merely 5,151 (2001) to 177,800 in April 2020 where 54 percent are Rohingyas. Their marked presence in Malaysia has multi-dimensional impacts, especially the enquiry pertaining to Rohingya children’s right to education given that Malaysia has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1995 but the broader Malaysian education framework does not recognize refugee children in the system. Based against this backdrop, this paper raises the question of who should play the role towards education provision for Rohingya children in transit countries by using Malaysia as case study. Based on purely secondary data and through thematic analysis, this paper argues that the social responsibility and humanitarian efforts to host and accommodate the needs of Rohingyas is disproportionately distributed between Malaysia and other countries especially with developed nations. While the rights of Rohingya refugees and their children should be acknowledged and advocated, this paper proposes that the capacity and readiness of host-cum-transit countries (i.e. Malaysia) should be considered too where the benefits and privileges of the local populace should not be compromised due to the huge presence of Rohingya refugees in Malaysia. Additionally, this paper also recommends that the social and humanitarian responsibilities of accommodating Rohingya refugees should be equitably distributed between and amongst developed and developing nations within ASEAN and further afield.