Earlier this week on Wednesday (21st March), an Australian employment firm known as The Bridge Employment received some attention after sharing a post on their Facebook page.
In the post, they introduced their newest member of staff who they claim is a refugee from Malaysia and is currently working at the firm as an admin in their finance department. An excerpt from their post reads,
“Meet Brittany: a young refugee from Malaysia. She is a single mum and came alone with her 2 kids.”
“She had great experience in accounting and admin from Malaysia, but since she came to Australia, she could only get farm work.”
Source: Facebook
“Yesterday she started as an admin and today she is already helping out in the finance department! Well done, Brit! We are incredibly proud of you.”
They later corrected the post, indicating that Brittany is in fact an asylum seeker, and not a refugee.
So here’s why this became a huge topic of conversation among Malaysians:
- The company featured a Malaysian and called her a “refugee”
- Most of them wondered if it’s “fake news” since Malaysian refugees are considered unheard of for most of us
This does raise a couple of some questions though…
Can Malaysians even apply as refugees or asylum seekers in the first place?
Well, according to the Australian Department of Home Affairs website, individuals from any nation can apply for a refugee visa if they meet the following requirements:
- Applicants are living outside of Australia
- Applicants are currently living outside of their home country
- Applicants are being persecuted in their home country
For Illustration Purposes | Source: SBS
Their website also stated that according the Migration Act 1958, refugees are classified as individuals living outside of their home country and can’t return because they fear that they will be persecuted because of their race, religion, political opinion, nationality, or are part of a specific social group.
Individuals Australia can also apply as asylum seekers under the protection visa. To qualify for this visa, applicants must;
- have arrived in Australia legally
- be engaged in Australia’s protection obligations
- meet specific health, character and security requirements
- be registered as a refugee and meet the complementary protection criteria under Australia’s Migration Act 1958
- not be barred from filing a protection visa application
- have the minister be satisfied that the grant of the visa is in the national interest
Source: Active Immigration Australia
So, it looks like in general, anyone can apply as refugees or asylum seekers. However, one pretty alarming fact was also brought up in light of this topic.
More and more Malaysians are applying for protection visas to stay on in Australia
As pointed out by one netizen in the comments section of the employment firm’s post, there has reportedly been an increase in protection visa applications from Malaysians who initially arrived in the country as tourists.
According to The Australian, 1,401 Malaysians applied for this visa from within Australia between 2014 and 2015. Since then, the number of Malaysians applying for this visa more than doubled between 2016 and 2017, passing 3,500 applications. This is despite Malaysia being a stable and functioning state, according to the report. Wah!
Source: The Kathmandu Post
However, a large majority of these applications (87 per cent to be exact!) are rejected.
In the report, it was also noted that Malaysia is the only Southeast Asian nation that has access to Australia’s electronic travel authority system, where they can get a three-month tourist visa online. Most Malaysians who apply for these tourist visas were found to have also tried applying for the protection visa later on.
A significant number of these applicants reportedly seek asylum due to being pursued by gangs or loan sharks. Others have also sought asylum for being whistle blowers exposing political or electoral corruption.
As for Brittany, her reason behind seeking asylum is unclear. Whatever it is, this post has definitely brought up a lot of questions about just how many Malaysian refugees and asylum seekers there are around the world!
What do you think about this matter? Let us know in the comments below!
Also read: First Australian Farms, Now M’sians are Working Illegally in S. Korea for RM2,000/Week
