Disappointed by Hope: Migrants and Refugees in Search of A Better Country examines the plight of refugees and migrant workers in Malaysia through photographs and stories based on case studies and interviews with transients who have experienced abuse.

Disappointed by Hope

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) – Jun 18, 2010 – Experts estimate there are between 1-2 million undocumented workers in Malaysia.  While many migrants come to the country with legitimate work permits, many are not so fortunate.  Foreign workers are often promised contracts in their home countries by various outsourcing agencies.  When they arrive in the country many are not given promised wages, have their contracts breached, and in some cases unsuspecting workers are trafficked for labor or for sex within the country.

Disappointed by Hope: Migrants and Refugees in Search of A Better Country is a new publication that explores the realities faced by many foreigners seeking labor or refuge within Malaysia. The book focuses on 26 specific issues and is based on case studies, actual accounts, and interviews with foreigners in Malaysia who have been trafficked for sex, deported, arrested, detained in Immigration Detention Centers, cheated, or who have fled violence and persecution in their country as legitimate refugees only to be granted no legal status by the Malaysian government.

The book features stunning images from Malaysian photographer Jonathan Kwok, Reflections by Melanie Hurlbut, and original short stories by Canadian writer Andrew Kooman. Former High Commissioner of Malaysia to Canada Dato’ Dennis Ignatius writes in the book’s foreword that Disappointed by Hope is “a siren call to … forever take from us our complacency to the plight of so many lost, lonely and hurting migrants.”

Disappointed by Hope is being released on 19 June, 2010, on the eve of World Refugee Day in Penang, Malaysia at 8 PM at the Penang House of Prayer (PenHOP). The book is published by Youth With A Mission Penang, which has a number of initiatives among migrants, refugees, and the urban poor in Malaysia, and Raise Their Voice Against Injustice, a society in Canada that addresses justice issues through story. Proceeds from the sale of the book will go toward establishing a school for the urban poor in Penang, Malaysia.

The book is available at www.raisetheirvoice.com and www.ywampenang.org.

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About Raise Their Voice:
Raise Their Voice Against Injustice (RTV) is an official society in Canada. It exists to creatively and effectively address issues of global injustice. Based in Red Deer, Alberta, RTV has done work in television, documentary and feature film, and gives its strength to tell stories that capture the imagination of the heart on the page and for the stage — stories that affirm the value and dignity of the whole person.

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The following is an excerpt from the forthcoming book Disappointed by Hope: Migrants and Refugees in Search of A Better Country
Visit www.raisetheirvoice.com for more details.

A Child Among Men:

Children in Immigration Detention Centres

“Mother!” Bao yells as the man in green uniform pulls her away. She stretches out her hand toward him and screams. The man grabs her by the waist and lifts her off the ground. Her hair falls over her eyes and all Bao can see is her mouth, screaming his name. Another man easily picks up Qui, his little sister, as she cries uncontrollably, watching the scene unfold. The man yanks her from the ground and shakes Qui roughly. “Enough!”

Before Bao can think he is on his feet, running toward the men who swooped into their small village to round up people without identification papers. Bao grabs Qui’s hand and tries to pull her away from the men. But just as quickly another uniformed man is upon him, strikes the boy across the face with his baton. Qui screams loudly, the guards push her into a truck. The look of horror on his mother’s ashen face the last thing Bao sees before everything fades to black.

* * *

Bao wakes with a start, calls out his mother’s name. It’s dark, and he’s lying on a cement floor. He has no shirt, no pants, wears only the underwear he had on when the officers raided the kampong. All around him lie men, sleeping on their sides, packed together like sardines in a tin can. Sounds of the jungle fill the night air, insects hum. Bao’s head throbs in pain. He moves to touch his forehead.

“No, don’t touch.” An old man’s voice. “Leave alone. Or else it won’t heal.” Bao runs his hand along his cheek and neck where warm, sticky blood has hardened to his skin. “How old are you?” the old man asks.

“14,” Bao says through swollen lips. “My mother. My sister!”

The old man hands Bao a cup that holds very little water. “Sip, but only a little. They give water twice a day. You need more than that to heal your head. They keep the women in separate blocks.”

Bao takes the cup, puts it to his lip. He forces himself to only sip, would swallow a whole river if he had the chance.

“Now lay down and rest,” the old man says. “You will need all your strength to last even one day in this place.”

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Facts: The total number of detainees in Malaysia’s 13 Immigration Detention Centres from 2004 – 2008 was 235,397 persons (SUARAM Press Statement, August 2009, “Arbitrary Detention of Migrant and Refugee Children”). Of those detained 3,675 were children. 2,652 of the detainees were boys, and 1,023 of the detainees were girls. Detainees often suffer from over-crowding, poor quality of food, poor nutrition, insufficient clothing, and inadequate access to health services.

Prayer: Father, Malaysia has ratified the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC). Please cause the government to uphold its obligation to protect
all children, including migrant, asylum-seeking, and refugee children. Please help and comfort those children presently in Immigration Detention
Centres or separated from parents who are detained in these facilities.

Action: (In Malaysia) Visit a refugee community and get to know the children there. Ask them about their experiences living in Malaysia. Ask if there are any children in
detention who you can visit. When you visit, buy them food, toiletries, and other basic necessities at the supply stores run by guards at the IDCs. Ask the guards if you can bring clothes and toys for them next time you visit. Contact UNHCR Malaysia – www.unhcr.org.my and www.unhrc.org; (Outside Malaysia) Connect with the work of YWAM Penang to help support them in their efforts to help migrants and refugees in distress -www.ywampenang.org.

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All stories are adapted from actual accounts, case studies and interviews with migrants and refugees. They have been
fictionalized to protect their confidentiality. For the same reason the photographs are representations.

Photograph by Jonathan Kwok.  Story by Andrew Kooman.
© 2010 YWAM Penang and Raise Their Voice.  All Rights Reserved

I started a fan page for Disappointed by Hope: Migrants and Refugees in Search of A Better Country on Facebook. Please join it!

(FYI: I’ll be talking about the new publication a lot in the next few months).

I’m happy to report the book will very soon go to print.  It’s been a long journey to get it to this point, and it will be amazing to get the book into people’s hands soon.

Visit the fan page to learn how to pre-order the book and to see some photographs from the upcoming publication.

with Hashim in Penang State

I’m pleased to say that Disappointed by Hope: Migrants and Refugees in Search of A Better Country, the forthcoming book from YWAM Malaysia and Raise Their Voice Against Injustice is approaching the finish line.

We’re nearing a final edit.  Yesterday I spent much of the day going through the incredible photography of Jonathan Kwok, the photographer whose photographs of migrants and refugees in Malaysia will help tell the story of their reality.  I’ve written 26 original short stories based on the real accounts of migrants and refugees I met.

As I went through the photographs, I came across this “behind the scenes” snapshot Jonathan took while we visited a community of Rohingya refugees from Burma.  Hashim, the man pictured with me in the photograph wrote a booklet with the help of the JUMP network in Malaysia.  I wrote a short article for RTV about his experience at a press event when the booklet was launched in Penang.

Disappointed by Hope is organized around 26 different issues to lead people into prayer and action to help address some shocking and disturbing issues of injustice.  Melanie Hurlbut of YWAM Malaysia has written four meditations to introduce each week.

I look forward to holding the finished product in my hand.  And to introduce people in Asia and North America to the reality of migrants and refugees who have or do experience injustices small and great.  I hope, as a result, our lives will never be the same.  The photograph reminded me of my experience just a few short months ago, and of the privilege it is to be in some way, use my voice and extend my hand to help people in need.