MALAYSIA ‘Second Worst Country’ for Transgender Community: Study

Posted by Asia Views | Jun 13, 2023 | 0 |

MalayMail-June 13

Malaysia has been deemed the second worst country in the world when it comes to transgender rights, according to a Global Trans Rights Index released recently.

Malaysia was given a score of -105 and the highest danger rating of F with the comment that trans persons face obstacles in the country and are targeted by the police, said researcher couple Asher and Lyric Fergusson in the study published on their travel site. “Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Malawi, and the United Arab Emirates are the subsequent worst countries for trans people. “None of them have any worker, discrimination and criminalization protections, and ‘cross-dressing’ is criminalized with penalties up to imprisonment in eight of the top 10 worst countries for trans people,” the study said. Guyana was ranked as the worst country for the community due to the high levels of murders of trans persons, the study said. Neighboring countries fared much better with Thailand ranking 66 out of 203 countries, Singapore at 109, Indonesia (115) and Brunei (192). The best five countries for the transgender community were listed as Malta, Portugal, Canada, Sweden and Bolivia. To conduct the study, points were awarded or deducted based on protections for LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and more) workers, legal protections against anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, criminalization of hate-based violence, transgender legal identity laws, and transgender murder rates. The points were based on reports by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), Human Rights Watch (HRW), and the “Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide” study by the advocacy network Transgender Europe. Transgender rights remain unrecognised by the Malaysian government, with the Home Ministry recently seizing over 100 watches from local branches of popular Swiss watchmaker Swatch, purportedly due to links to the LGBTQ+ rights movement. On the other hand, in March, a study by market research firm Ipsos said that over half of Malaysian respondents agreed that transgender individuals should be able to live their lives as they wished and without interference. Read more at: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2023/06/13/malaysia-second-worst-country-for-transgender-community-study-finds/72841

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EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD

Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.

“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”

MALAYSIA ‘Second Worst Country’ for Transgender Community: Study

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