Myammar Women Refugees Band Together To Help Each Other

MYAMMAR refugee Tanda Htun is no stranger to hardship. It has been six years since the 30-year-old Myammar woman fled the military regime back in her home country, and still she continues to live with fear and uncertainty. In Malaysia, Tanda has worked in restaurants and polished cars at a car wash, and she constantly worries about being arrested by the police again.

“I was a social worker in Myammar, promoting Mon culture. But the government doesn’t allow this, they don’t want you to practise your culture,” says Tanda.

Although Tanda lives with five other families in a small flat here, and is unsure of what her future holds, she says life here is still better than in Myammar.

Lighter and happier: Apar working the weaving loom with her six-month-old daughter.

 Tanda is one of the 28,500 registered women refugees from Myammar who fled to Malaysia to escape persecution under the military rule. They are hoping to be repatriated to a third country which will grant them permanent residence. However, there is no telling when and if they will eventually be repatriated. In the meantime, they live here and try to eke out a living.

Malaysia is not a signatory of the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which recognises the rights of refugees and accords them protection. Under Malaysian law, there is no distinction between a refugee and an illegal immigrant. Even if they have registered with the United Nations Refugee Centre (UNHCR) in Malaysia, they have no access to legal employement or formal education. They can be detained, locked up and deported even if they hold a UNHCR card.

“Many of the women are depressed or show signs of depression,” says Elodie Voisin, Volunteer Coordinator at Tanma Federation, a union of three Myammar women refugee groups based in Kuala Lumpur. “They cannot eat, they cannot sleep, they feel hopeless and live in fear every day.”

Tanma Federeration

There are about 98,000 refugees and asylum seekers registered with the UNHCR in Malaysia. About 88,500 are Myammar nationals, and they are usually divided according to their ethnic groups. There is a support network within these communities, and they have initiatives to help their countrymen cope with life here. This includes setting up schools for the children, and income-generating projects for the women. One of these organisations is Tanma Federation, whose mission is to create a safe place for Myammar women to earn an income, protect their rights and empower them through skills learning programmes.

Tanma means “strength” in the Myammar language. Since its inception in 2010, the organisation has managed to unite and empower some 200 Myammar refugee women in Malaysia.

Tanda is now concentrated on making soap and massage oil based on traditional Mon recipes at Kaoprise, one of the three livelihood projects in the Tanma Federation.

Many Mon people are farmers who live far away from modern healthcare facilities, they are well-versed in the art of self-remedy. All Kaoprise products are organic and made from plant-based ingredients such as lemon grass, coconut oil and vanilla.

“The coconut oil is what my mother used on me when I was young. It is good for the skin and the hair,” says Tanda.

The other two groups in Tanma are Mang Tha (run by the Alliance of Chin Refugees) and the Chin Women’s Organisation (CWO). Mang Tha makes sewn and woven products such as soft bags, pouches, baby slings, passport holders and bibs – they can basically make anything that people bring to them.

Their best-selling item is the baby ring sling which is already being sold in certain baby shops in the Klang Valley. You will recognise it by the unique Chin fabric it is made of. All Mang Tha products are made from this unique fabric which is woven in the centre itself. Apar who heads Mang Tha, with her baby in her arms, shows how a woman winds yarn with a machine made from a bicycle wheel. “Then they do the weaving in there,” she says, pointing to a large wooden contraption that takes up an entire room.