This episode focuses on refugees in ‘transit’ awaiting resettlement in another country. It also features a police raid with the aim to capture illegal immigrants.
Episode recap:
At the beginning of the episode the six Australians are flown to Malaysia. From there, the six visited slums where refugees wait to be resettled in countries such as Australia. Many of the people in the flats fled Burma due to a military regime.
The six Australians moved in with a refugee family and were taken on a tour of the flat in which the family lived. The flat was crammed; there were 50 people on just one floor. The children living in the flat had no beds so they slept on the floor. There was one toilet for all the 50 people. It was a very primitive and unhygienic environment. This is the same for all flats and apartments in the slums.
The refugee children hardly know life outside the walls of the flats. Some of the children were born inside the flats. The children stay in the flats all day because the refugees are treated as illegal immigrants even if they have UN documents. If a child is arrested on the streets the authorities will show no mercy and the child will be sent to prison.
The bathroom was very unhygienic and one of the Australians went in and cleaned the toilet with a disinfectant.
The Australians ate the same food as the refugees and late at night the children were still bounding with energy.
The six found it very hard to sleep due to not having a bed, the noise from the street and the Muslims belted out their prayers early in the morning. The refugees in the flats have to deal with this every night.
The refugee children attend a makeshift school in an apartment in Kuala Lumpur. This is the only time the children are allowed out.
The refugee children in Malaysia will never have access to higher education. The children have a will to learn and are happy at school.
The refugee men work as labourers for nine hours a day as volunteers. As a reward for the labour they are given food and shelter. When asked by an Australian why they don’t work at a construction site and get some money for their work the men said: They can’t work at a construction site because they are afraid that if they go out they will be arrested.
Later in the program the six were invited on a border patrol. Two of the Australians went up in a helicopter and the other four went on a boat.
The people smugglers operate in mangroves as the dense foliage makes it hard for people to see any illegal work.
The Australians were then invited to go on a secret midnight raid to capture people smugglers. The raid was at a construction site. Illegal immigrants face jail and/or deportation if they are caught.
Scores of people were arrested; many of them could’ve been refugees. One man from the refugee family with which the Australians stayed was captured. If they are illegal immigrants they may face caning, jail or deportation.
Later, three Australians were sent to Jordan and the other three are sent to Kenya. These 2 countries are the first ports-of-call for many refugees when they are fleeing their country.
The three sent to Kenya were taken to a collection point where they were collected by UN personnel and taken to a refugee camp.
To get to the collection point the three Australians had to have a security escort due to shootings in the past. The three were given a matt and a bowl and were told to take care of their matt because once it is stolen they can’t replace it.
The toilet was a hole in the ground and the walls, doors and the roof were made out of tin.
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