Some, including illegal domestic help and victims of human trafficking, remain runaways for fear of deportation.

Others seek protection from their respective embassies, in some cases, along with newborn babies — often the product of sexual assault.

The dreadful stories came from women at the shelter in the Indonesian Embassy on Jalan Tun Razak.

As of yesterday, 162 women were at the shelter which has a capacity to hold 75 people. Some stay for weeks, some for months.

Some of them have been beaten, raped or tortured with scalding water and nearly all have been treated like slaves and not paid for months or years of exhausting work.

Many still bear the scars, scalds and wounds inflicted on them.

Now they wait for their cases to be resolved via mediation with resentful former employers, or make their way painfully slowly through Malaysia’s court system, before they can return to their villages and towns.

Of the estimated 300,000 maids in Malaysia, Indonesians make up 90 per cent while Filipinas constitute
eight per cent.

Read more @ the Malay mail

It’s been a great year and many great stories from all the cities we have gone doing Change Your World especially when you see the young generation owning their city and making the difference.

We at Change Your World are excited that we will be doing Kuala Lumpur on September 25 our home ground. More details soon.

But I want to share our latest development. Our desire for the Millennial generation is that they not only learn city ownership but also expand their borders to see what is happening to our nation and also the rest of the world. There is of course endless needs but why not we start doing something to make the difference.

We recently partnered with World Vision under our World Ownership helping to build water treatments for the people who do not have water.

DID YOU KNOW THAT EVERY 21 SECONDS A CHILD DIES BECAUSE OF WATER RELATED ILLNESSES?

Want to find out more? Hover over our navigation bar on top and click on “YOU MAKE THE DIFFERENCE” and discover lots more about how we can make a difference.

Let’s together make the difference.

God bless,
Kelvin Lim
CYW Founder

Special thanks to William for taking up the responsibility to champion and gather all the churches together. You made the difference.

Also to Kah Wai who handled the headache of all the cash in his hands and many other things you did for us.

To the prayer team. You changed the atmosphere in the hall and I’m certain the people… (Read More)

Star Newspaper: Tuesday Feb 2,2010
Sec-gen: UN-recognised refugees to get ID cards

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia plans to issue identification cards to refugees who are recognised by the United Nations, allowing them to stay in the country temporarily and avoid arrest as illegal immigrants.
Home Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Mahmood Adam said the Government would work with the UN refugee agency to issue the cards so that immigration enforcement personnel would recognise and spare UN-designated refugees.
“As long as they are recognised as refugees by the UN, they can stay here temporarily,” he said yesterday.
“They cannot work here, but they can do odd jobs.”
He could not give an exact time-line but said the initiative was in the “final stage.”

According to the UN agency, about 75,600 refugees and asylum-seekers were in Malaysia as of November last year. Most fled persecution in Myanmar.

Yante Ismail, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, welcomed the development.
“Proper documentation for refugees is essential to their protection,” she said.

All of the refugees in Malaysia are waiting to be resettled to a third country that officially accepts refugees. — AP