Well Done, The Philippines! (For Accepting 3,000 Rohingya Refugees)

[Methersgate]

This makes me proud of my adopted country.

Unlike wealthy Malaysia and Muslim Indonesia and Buddhist Thailand, the Philippines WILL accept Rohingya "boat people", in accordance with the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees.

See here:

http://www.rappler.com/nation/93577-myanmar-rohingya-boat-people-philippines

It looks like the two poorest countries in SE Asia, the Philippines and Cambodia, will do their bit whilst richer nations do not.

(long ago, the Philippines accepted Vietnamese refugees)

[Jollygoodfellow]

How does the country afford to do their bit when their own people suffer from poverty and lack of medical help etc?

[Jack Peterson]

How does the country afford to do their bit when their own people suffer from poverty and lack of medical help etc?

:1 (103):  EASY,  They use Yolanda money

[Methersgate]

I don't think those unfortunate people are asking for much, and my Filipino Muslim friends* all consider that if the Rohingyas were settled in Muslim Mindanao they would be taken care of by Muslim Filipinos. Charity is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.

* Yes, I have some. Five, actually, including one in London.

Edited May 18, 2015 by Methersgate

[Jack Peterson]

if the Rohingyas were settled in Muslim Mindanao they would be taken care of by Muslim Filipinos.

 

This needs to be very carefully monitored I am afraid to say.

 

JP :tiphat:

[Methersgate]

if the Rohingyas were settled in Muslim Mindanao they would be taken care of by Muslim Filipinos.

 

This needs to be very carefully monitored I am afraid to say.

 

JP :tiphat:

Why? Unlike the people trying to get into Europe, there is no suggestion that there are any terrorists hiding amongst these unfortunate people.

[Jack Peterson]

Why? Unlike the people trying to get into Europe, there is no suggestion that there are any terrorists hiding amongst these unfortunate people.

 

Sorry but on this I am Skeptical, It remains to be seen just what happens.

[kalibojerry]

I am also proud of the Philippines for helping these people it shows that they have class a poor country with not much but willing to share with what they have to help them what goes around comes around let's just hope this is true the next time they need help

[scott h]

Sorry but on this I am Skeptical

 

Sorry guys, I have to join Jack on this one.

 

Sure it looks great for world opinion, and makes everyone feel good about themselves. But once they get there and are resettled, what then? Is there infrastructure waiting for them? Is there a plan in place or are there already meaningful job for them? (I seem to remember hearing somewhere that the Philippines has a high unemployment problem). This looks good now, but what about 15 years from now?

 

Most experts agree that the majority of the foreign fighters that are with ISIS (ISIL, PAUESH, pick your name for them) that are running amok in the middle east right now are disaffected youths of immigrant parents who moved to Europe, the USA, Canada and other places and are prime targets for radicalization because they have no jobs or meaningful future in their view. So now they are in Iraq cutting off heads.

 

I just hope that this doesn't come back and bite them in the butt is all.

[BrettGC]

As much as I admire The Philippines for doing the right thing I do have the same economic concerns as Scott and Jack.  Having said that it's better than the human rights travesty which Australia is perpetuating against asylum seekers.

 

As to the statement about foreigners making up the majority of ISIS, this is incorrect.  Conservative estimates put the total number of ISIS personnel at about 100,000 with the extreme being double that.  Actual on the front line personnel at any one time is estimated at approximately 30,000. What is agreed upon by most analysts is that foreign fighters number in the region of 25,000-30,000 but the the vast majority of these are from the Gulf states that are not Iraq and Syria with approximately 3,000-4,000 being from from the West but yes, the majority of these from the West are of Islamic origin with the greatest number being from the UK.  All that aside, the Rohingya people are not known for their radicalism any more than say the Turkish are.  Yes, it is a concern that the more extreme Sunni's in Mindanao may radicalise these people if they do become disaffected due to economic disadvantage.