THE Home Ministry has promised to provide updates on the disappearance of Myanmar refugee activist Thuzar Maung and her family, a fellow activist said.

James Bawi, an activist from the Chin community, said he had met with the ministry’s press secretary recently.

The meeting between the ministry and several Myanmar activists took place on July 25. However there is no latest information on the whereabouts of Thuzar or her family.

“The minister’s press secretary promised that we will receive updates on the case but so far there has been no communication. We have yet to receive any updates,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Bawi said he will follow up with the ministry next week.

He also said the Myanmar refugee community is currently living in fear. 

Human Rights Watch reported that Thuzar, her husband as well as their children Aung Myint Maung, 21, Thukha Maung, 17, and Poeh Khing Maung, 16, were abducted from their house by several unidentified men posing as policemen on July 4.

At about 4.30pm on that day, a car entered the gated community where the family lived. The driver told the security guards they were police. Two hours later, Thuzar was on the phone with a friend, who heard her yell to her husband that unknown men were entering the house, before being disconnected. 

At about 7.10pm, the same car and the two cars owned by Thuzar’s family were seen leaving the compound. Thuzar’s phone and the phones of her husband and children appear to have been immediately turned off, as no calls have gone through since. 

Thuzar is chairman of the Myanmar Muslim Refugee Community and Myanmar Migrant Workers Committee. She has 93,000 followers on Facebook – the platform she uses for activism and to criticise the Myanmar junta.

Meanwhile, Women for Refugees urged the police to prioritise locating the missing activist and her family.

Its spokesman Davina Devarajan said it was a matter of time sensitivity, and that the case has also caused serious concerns in regards to safety for the Myanmar communities and refugees.

“Thuzar’s disappearance is still a shock to those of us working in the refugee rights space, and especially to Myanmar refugee communities.

“It’s important for the local authorities to continue aggressively to locate the missing activist and her family. I hope the authorities are prioritising this case and positive updates regarding the safe recovery of the family are provided soon,” she said.

Cops still searching

Meanwhile Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan assured that his men are still investigating and are trying to locate Thuzar’s whereabouts.

He said as refugees, Thuzar and her family held no passports, hence making it difficult for the immigration to trace her movements.

“We are still working on the case, we are searching for her and her family. They don’t have passports therefore they can’t leave through legal means.

“We are looking at rat routes and illegal paths that might be used,” said the top cop when contacted.

Since mid-August 2020, Malaysian authorities have stepped up the process of repatriating political asylum seekers back to Myanmar, with more than 2,000 Myanmar nationals reported to have been deported, including defecting military personnel.

Malaysia is not a signatory to the Refugee Convention 1951. However, based on the principle of “non-refoulement”, refugees should not be sent back to countries where they face the risk of being prosecuted, tortured, ill-treated or denied their basic rights in any way. – July 30, 2023.