Bond Street Theatre is Amplifying Refugee Voices In Malaysia

Bond Street Theatre (BST) is launching the second year of its programming in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, working with refugee and migrant populations to use theatre as an information-sharing and advocacy tool. Collaborating with Asylum Access Malaysia, Masakini Theatre, and the Rohingya Women's Development Network, BST and partners work to translate critical information regarding healthcare, education and legal rights into illustrative, mobile plays that can be performed by and for refugees.

Nearly 150,000 refugees and asylum seekers are registered with UNHCR in Malaysia, coming from a range of countries and languishing in makeshift housing. Many have fled active conflicts in Myanmar, where Bond Street has been working since 2009, while others have traveled from Afghanistan, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Iraq and Syria.
With the influx of men, women and children from different parts of the world, language barriers, cultural differences, and lack of employment plague refugees who struggle to start a new life.

In the past year, BST and partners have performed across Kuala Lumpur, holding shows and conducting workshops for refugees from the Rohingya, Somali, Afghan, Iranian and Syrian communities. Significantly, last year's capacity-building trainings resulted in the formation of the Rohingya Women's Theatre, which continues to perform across the capital.

Malaysia is not a signatory of the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees, leaving the country's refugee population vulnerable, without legal protections, and struggling to survive. Considered undocumented workers, it is extremely difficult for refugees to gain shelter, employment and formal education.

In communities with limited literacy, or those representing myriad language groups and cultural norms, theatre is an effective way to disseminate information about refugee rights and resources, while also facilitating conversation and encouraging community action and cohesion.

Entering the second year of this program, BST aims to facilitate further theatre training with partners, and to expand the reach of this theatre training to new refugee groups citywide. BST will also be working with the North South Initiative, a new partner dedicated to grassroots movement-building and advocacy, to explore ways in which theatre can be applied to worker's rights and intercultural tolerance.

Bond Street Theatre has a long history of working with refugees -- in Kosovo and Bosnia & Herzegovina, Pakistan, Haiti and Greece -- and in areas of conflict and displacement: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Guatemala and elsewhere.

Bond Street Theatre has been initiating arts-based projects for conflict resolution, education and empowerment in areas of conflict and poverty internationally since 1984, and working in Afghanistan since 2003. The company collaborates with local artists to enjoy the benefits of creative exchange and promotes the value of the arts in shaping a peaceful future. Recipient of a MacArthur Award, the company also receives support from the Trust for Mutual Understanding, Theatre Communications Group, Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, Open Society, Asian Cultural Council, US Institute for Peace, US Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs, and US Embassies.

Bond Street Theatre is a non-profit organization and an NGO in association with the United Nations.