Placing refugees at the centre of research and documentation is fundamental to the work of the Penang Refugee Network.

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Through our community networks, the experience, ideas, hopes and aspirations of women, men and youth from the refugee community are discussed and documented. As appropriate, they are then presented to decision-makers, the wider Malaysian public, service providers and wider national and regional circles.

 

This is of course based on the principle that it is ridiculous to exclude refugee voices from any advocacy relating to the situation faced by refugees. Yet this is what many in the NGO world, world of academia and UN world do.

 

So we have continually worked to open up spaces where refugees can advocate for themselves; our work also translates directly into advocacy for promoting refugee rights, safety and well-being as well as for developing relevant community-based interventions.

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Over several years, we have worked with Malaysian enforcement agencies, facilitating the hearing of the experiences of refugee women, youth and men in Penang. This has extended to working with members of key United Nation and other fact-finding missions, some related to Myanmar and the region, and which have included the International Peoples Tribunal, university and research institutions, and media. 

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Our own documentation has included

 

The experience of the human trafficking camps and murders in Wang Kelian;

 

What Future - Education for Refugee Children in Malaysia;

 

Child Marriage in the Rohingya Community in Penang; 

 

The Experience of Covid19 and the Power of Refugee-led Responses; 

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Towards a Comprehensive National Policy on Labour Migration in Malaysia (part of a coalition document)

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Human Trafficking in Malaysia: What can be Done

 

and documentation on 

Arrests and Detention; Employment; and Refugee Empowerment through Digital Inclusion.

 

Regular contributions to advocacy discussions at national and regional level are very much integrated into our work.

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You can download these reports by clicking on the image (see right).

       

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