WHEN life throws extreme challenges in the way what would a man do? He could try and cope, but when everything else fails and he finds no avenue for recourse he would do the unthinkable.
The man who threw his three children off the MRR2 and killed himself must have been on the wrong side of things to have taken such a drastic step.
To kill himself is one thing, but to kill his three young children not only needs willpower but extreme emotional disturbance.
He must have given up on life and the miseries that came with it, which were probably too heavy a burden to shoulder.
From the documents found on the children and man, it can be assumed that they could have been refugees.
One thing is for sure, if indeed they were refugees there might be something wrong with the system that manages refugees in the country.
We are living in extremely difficult times, even an ordinary waged person can feel the struggle.
One can only imagine what kind of turmoil the man and his family must have gone through.
If it was financial difficulty, that would have been the easiest to solve. All he had to do was reach out.
Except for the brief news on the inside pages, there was no other information about this family and I can only hope and pray that the child who survived the fall is out of danger.
As I pen these words, there could be many more families whose lives may be hanging by a thread just trying to make ends meet.
Occasionally, when detrimental news is released about the way refugees are managed, there are often hollers from certain quarters who deny there is even a problem.
When humans do not help humans, where does humanity start and end?
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Malaysia had more than 182,000 refugees and asylum seekers as of April this year, with more than 136,000 over the age of 18.
It said despite being host to so many people fleeing conflict and abuse, Malaysia lacks an effective legal framework to legitimise the position of refugees in the country and local laws do not distinguish between refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants.
There have been calls by various NGO to allow refugees to work, which would – in one go – help resolve manpower issues in certain jobs as well as provide a source of income for refugees to live decently and for their survival.
As of now, there is no such regulation, hence, refugees are often exploited in unimaginable ways.
Refugees are people who have no choice but to flee their country due to war and human rights abuses. They cannot return home safely.
These are people that the UNHCR is mandated to protect.
Meanwhile, an undocumented migrant is someone who does not have the authorisation to enter and stay in the country.
This includes individuals who may have been trafficked, someone who was falsely promised work, or even a student whose visa has expired.
Most of the time, migrants are, or become, undocumented through no fault of their own.
They still enjoy the protection of their governments and their lives or freedoms will not be at risk if they are deported.
Our government has a responsibility to protect refugees. As do all of us. Refugee protection is a shared responsibility.
It is the primary responsibility of governments to protect the human rights of all people in their territory, including refugees, even if that country is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its associated 1967 Protocol.
In this day and age, no one should go hungry and if one has to resort to taking his own life due to poverty, we are all guilty of not sharing and doing enough.
The well-known adage that “poverty is the parent of crime and revolution” should not be taken lightly.
Comments: letters@thesundaily.com
