This
Chapter covers current issues. Issues touched on will include the Refugee
Crisis, the Haze in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore as well as plunging South
East Asian Currencies.
The Refugee Crisis
There have always
been refugees fleeing to different countries due to some form of persecution.
However, 2015 sees a frighteningly huge number of refugees.
The most recent refugee crisis centres on Rohingya trying to get into South-East Asia and Syrians trying to get into the EU.
Rohingya Refugee Crisis
Left
stateless, tens of thousands
of Rohingya risk their lives to flee Myanmar, the country they are not permitted
to call home. It is said that one in ten Rohingya have fled on boats
trafficking them to countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Human
smugglers charge exorbitant amounts for a boat journey which may not see land.
Many Rohingya who manage to land in Thailand and Malaysia are kept in
deplorable detention camps, many dying there.
The ‘Arab Spring’ began as a peaceful,
pro-democracy movement across the Middle East, but resulted in terrible wars
in Libya and Syria which have led to the refugee crisis.
Syrians
are fleeing because Bashar al-Assad's regime has targeted civilians with
chemical weapons; ISIS has tortured and murdered Syrians. The civil war has
displaced half of the population, and caused one in five Syrians to
flee the country.
Is the EU and United Kingdom ready for the influx of refugees?
The EU and
the United Kingdom, have, like most places, a strong anti-immigration policy. Taking
in large numbers of refugees requires accepting that those refugees might bring
changes to your nation's identity or culture. In this case, the influx involves
hundreds of thousands of refugees.
South
East Asia, in particular Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, is shrouded in haze
for a few weeks or even months every year. The haze, caused by forest fires in Indonesia
has worsened over the past few years. Fingers are pointing at palm oil industry
players who are said to have started fires to clear land for more plantations.
August
and September 2015 have seen especially poor air quality in parts of Indonesia
and Malaysia with API hitting unhealthy levels of above 150. Air quality
in Pontianak, West Kalimantan reached a very unhealthy level with the Air
Pollution Index (API) reported to have surpassed 1,000 in September, 2015. The Indonesian government declared a state of emergency in Riau and several other Indonesian provinces due to the haze.
The
choking haze has prompted flight cancellations and closure of schools in
countries affected. Residents in badly affected areas in Indonesia had to flee or be evicted
to other parts of the country. The economic impact is great.
Indonesia
has sent troops and planes to fight the fires but says it will take at least a month to
bring the situation under control.Executives
from some companies have been arrested in relation to the fires but the
situation is far from under control as of time of writing.
Declining commodity prices, the slowdown in China
and the likelihood of an interest-rate rise in America have made 2015 an
unforgettable year for emerging-market currencies. No doubt, many countries all over the world are facing an economic slowdown leading to
currency falls. The Russian Ruble lost 40% of its value in 2014; the Brazilan Real has also been badly hit. However, leading the drop in the Asia Pacific are the Malaysian ringgit and the
Indonesian rupiah.
Another round of inflation in the affected
countries is inevitable; with the stock markets heading southwards, there seems
to be nothing positive on the economic front for countries like Malaysia and
Indonesia.
The question ‘How low will it go?’ seeks an answer;
the question ‘How long will it last?’ yields a bleak response. The prospect
of petroleum and commodity prices rebounding remains the only dim hope, bearing
in mind that there are many other factors affecting currency values which are
beyond the control of governments, economists and the general populace.