Chin Refugee Fell to His Death | The Burma Collective
Shared via AddThis
Thursday, July 30, 2009
16 Chin Refugees were arrested, the third time surprised raid at Jalan Imbi
There was unexpected immigration raid at Myanmar store at Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur on this evening and 16 Chin Refugees were arrested. This is the third time surprised raid at Jalan Imbi
28 July, 2009
There was unexpected immigration raid at Myanmar store at Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur on this evening and 16 Chin Refugees were arrested. This is the third time surprised raid at Jalan Imbi. According to the confirm information, 16 Chin refugees were arrested inside Myanmar store while they were shopping. But until now we don’t have any further information about where they were taken to.On the first raid, more than 170 Chin refugees were arrested when police with plain cloths raided on April, 2009 in this area, and they were detained in Bukit Jalil lock up. After about one week in police lock up, some were released but
some were transferred to Immigration camp.
Last month, about 22 Chin Refugees were arrested at the same place. That was second evening raid with plain cloths. They all were detained at Bukit Jalil lock up and some are released by the help of UNHCR, CRC and ACR.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Najib stirs unease with plan to expand Rela policing
Source : The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 — Plans by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to deploy a controversial volunteer civilian corps to curb escalating crime are ringing alarm bells with human rights activists and opposition lawmakers.
They say deploying armed, untrained Rela members, who number about 700,000, to fight crime could lead to "massive" rights violations.
"Rela is not an enforcement agency like the police. It is a voluntary body and completely unsuitable to enforce the law and battle crime on the streets," said Irene Fernandez, the executive director of Tenaganita, an NGO that champions migrant workers.
"Human rights violations and assaults and robberies against foreign migrant workers all shot up when Rela was deployed against them in 2007.
"They are ordinary people like office workers and the power goes to their heads. They became a vigilante corps. Using Rela for policing is unsafe and a danger to the public."
Rela was originally created to provide village security. Najib said on Monday that Rela would be "upgraded and trained" to tackle crime.
He also said 600 surveillance cameras would be installed in the capital and police equipment upgraded to fight crime. But it is the readiness to use Rela that is hotly disputed.
Home Ministry officials yesterday were unclear what kind of training Rela members would get before deployment on the streets.
"Our plan is for Rela to assist police, not replace the police," an official said. "The areas of co-operation and the procedures and methods involved are being worked out."
He dismissed widespread earlier criticism of Rela as an "unruly" vigilante-type body abusing and mistreating migrant workers.
Rela volunteers, mostly office workers and civil servants, originally helped police manage crowds at big sports and religious events. In 2007, the government amended the law and gave Rela members powers to stop, search and arrest civilians. Rela officers were also issued with guns during anti-migrant operations.
Rela was used to seek out and arrest illegal migrant workers, and members were paid RM80 for each person arrested.
"Overnight, cases of mistreatment, assault and robbery shot up," said Enalini Elumalai, a senior officer with rights group Suaram.
In 2007, Rela was in the spotlight for arresting and roughing up the wife of an Indonesian diplomat.
Others who alleged abuse included foreign students, Chinese nationals arrested on suspicion of being prostitutes, and Indian information technology expatriates mistaken for illegal immigrants. "It was blatant racial profiling," Fernandez said.
The government then decreed that police officers had to accompany Rela members during operations.
The authorities see Rela as a cheap alternative to the 96,000-member police force.
In May, the government released statistics showing a steady increase of all types of crime, especially robbery.
A Home Ministry poll found 95 per cent of 9,000 respondents felt unsafe and 90 per cent blamed police for not doing enough.
A parliamentary conference on crime yesterday said the situation had reached "intolerable levels", and lawmakers demanded the immediate resignation of the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan.
DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, who convened the conference, said: "Using the untrained and unqualified Rela for policing is a dangerous step backwards." — South China Morning Post
They say deploying armed, untrained Rela members, who number about 700,000, to fight crime could lead to "massive" rights violations.
"Rela is not an enforcement agency like the police. It is a voluntary body and completely unsuitable to enforce the law and battle crime on the streets," said Irene Fernandez, the executive director of Tenaganita, an NGO that champions migrant workers.
"Human rights violations and assaults and robberies against foreign migrant workers all shot up when Rela was deployed against them in 2007.
"They are ordinary people like office workers and the power goes to their heads. They became a vigilante corps. Using Rela for policing is unsafe and a danger to the public."
Rela was originally created to provide village security. Najib said on Monday that Rela would be "upgraded and trained" to tackle crime.
He also said 600 surveillance cameras would be installed in the capital and police equipment upgraded to fight crime. But it is the readiness to use Rela that is hotly disputed.
Home Ministry officials yesterday were unclear what kind of training Rela members would get before deployment on the streets.
"Our plan is for Rela to assist police, not replace the police," an official said. "The areas of co-operation and the procedures and methods involved are being worked out."
He dismissed widespread earlier criticism of Rela as an "unruly" vigilante-type body abusing and mistreating migrant workers.
Rela volunteers, mostly office workers and civil servants, originally helped police manage crowds at big sports and religious events. In 2007, the government amended the law and gave Rela members powers to stop, search and arrest civilians. Rela officers were also issued with guns during anti-migrant operations.
Rela was used to seek out and arrest illegal migrant workers, and members were paid RM80 for each person arrested.
"Overnight, cases of mistreatment, assault and robbery shot up," said Enalini Elumalai, a senior officer with rights group Suaram.
In 2007, Rela was in the spotlight for arresting and roughing up the wife of an Indonesian diplomat.
Others who alleged abuse included foreign students, Chinese nationals arrested on suspicion of being prostitutes, and Indian information technology expatriates mistaken for illegal immigrants. "It was blatant racial profiling," Fernandez said.
The government then decreed that police officers had to accompany Rela members during operations.
The authorities see Rela as a cheap alternative to the 96,000-member police force.
In May, the government released statistics showing a steady increase of all types of crime, especially robbery.
A Home Ministry poll found 95 per cent of 9,000 respondents felt unsafe and 90 per cent blamed police for not doing enough.
A parliamentary conference on crime yesterday said the situation had reached "intolerable levels", and lawmakers demanded the immediate resignation of the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan.
DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, who convened the conference, said: "Using the untrained and unqualified Rela for policing is a dangerous step backwards." — South China Morning Post
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Re-train Rela members to help improve public perception on safety.
Source : CHARLES HECTOR
Re-train Rela members to help improve public perception on safety.
RELA - we all know that this volunteer-corp need to be abolished. There are too many instance of wrong-doings, by this now 'too-powerful' group of volunteers. What we need is more trained police personel, and other enforcement personel. Not more trained RELA. If you have volunteers, then increase the number of volunteer police personel, civil defence, fire fighters, etc..There really is no need for RELA. I believe that RELA is just a desparate way for UMNO-led BN to try and regain the support of younger Malaysians - and that is why there is that odd desire by our Home Minister to increase the number of RELA volunteers from about 500,000 now to 2.5 million in 3 years...
The People's Volunteer Corps (Rela) is set to increase its membership five-fold to 2.5 million by 2012, with the additional members to come from not only among the Malays but also the Chinese, Indians and others.
Rela director-general Datuk Zaidon Asmuni said the government felt that Rela was a voluntary organisation made up of people of all races, backgrounds, occupations and so on.- Bernama, 5/7/2009, Rela Targets 2.5 Million Members By 2012
On the other hand, the number of police in Malaysia is 93,348 only, and Malaysia has a population of about 27,000,000, and that means about 3.45 per 1,000 people, and that is OK - but the problem in Malaysia is their organisation. There is clearly not enough police investigators...and hence the backlogs. There is too many FRU and other police used for 'illegal' assemblies and dinners... Police training and salaries need to be up-graded.
RELA - we all know that this volunteer-corp need to be abolished. There are too many instance of wrong-doings, by this now 'too-powerful' group of volunteers. What we need is more trained police personel, and other enforcement personel. Not more trained RELA. If you have volunteers, then increase the number of volunteer police personel, civil defence, fire fighters, etc..There really is no need for RELA. I believe that RELA is just a desparate way for UMNO-led BN to try and regain the support of younger Malaysians - and that is why there is that odd desire by our Home Minister to increase the number of RELA volunteers from about 500,000 now to 2.5 million in 3 years...
The People's Volunteer Corps (Rela) is set to increase its membership five-fold to 2.5 million by 2012, with the additional members to come from not only among the Malays but also the Chinese, Indians and others.
Rela director-general Datuk Zaidon Asmuni said the government felt that Rela was a voluntary organisation made up of people of all races, backgrounds, occupations and so on.- Bernama, 5/7/2009, Rela Targets 2.5 Million Members By 2012
On the other hand, the number of police in Malaysia is 93,348 only, and Malaysia has a population of about 27,000,000, and that means about 3.45 per 1,000 people, and that is OK - but the problem in Malaysia is their organisation. There is clearly not enough police investigators...and hence the backlogs. There is too many FRU and other police used for 'illegal' assemblies and dinners... Police training and salaries need to be up-graded.
Rela To Provide Manpower To Curb Crime On The Streets
Posted by ADMIN
Source : http://kutuberahak.blogspot.com
The People's Volunteer Corps (Rela) is willing to cooperate with the Royal Malaysia Police to reduce crime on the streets as called for by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak Monday.
Najib when announcing the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and the lead ministers for six national key results areas (NKRA) in Putrajaya said he wanted crime on the streets to be reduced by 20 percent by the end of 2010. Rela director-general Datuk Zaidon Asmuni said the corps would work hand-in-hand with the police in the matter.
"We will provide sufficient manpower if we were asked to assist... let's say if the police wanted 100 of our men in an operation to combat crime, we will provide the number asked," he told Bernama when contacted here today.
However, he said the decision whether to ask for Rela's help lay with the Inspector-General of Police.
comments
I have doubts. We will witness more power abuses by these people. Should have brought back the police to its original duties instead of harassing political talks by the opposition and rallies by the rakyat to practise democracy.
oh no. we do no need to deal with another agency which has shown to be power crazy and abusive. making them unofficial cops will make things worse with/out training as seen by the many complaints against them. we just need the police to do their job and focus on the rakyat instead of focusing on keeping their political masters happy and in power. Police need to walk the beat instead of walking the corridors of power. as it is the rakyat have taken on things by hiring security guards to patrol their homes etc. can you imagine crime rate if rakyat has not taken the initiative to hire security guards. security guards existence in non guarded neighborhoods are a sign of failure of the police.
New IGP and new directions very much needed by police. The key is how the rakyat feel and thus far it is not safe at all. Statistics in terms of KPIs, can be manipulated and the possibility crime index will improve due to KPIs is high but will it reflect safer streets and rakyat feeling safer, is a totally different story.
The People's Volunteer Corps (Rela) is willing to cooperate with the Royal Malaysia Police to reduce crime on the streets as called for by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak Monday.
Najib when announcing the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and the lead ministers for six national key results areas (NKRA) in Putrajaya said he wanted crime on the streets to be reduced by 20 percent by the end of 2010. Rela director-general Datuk Zaidon Asmuni said the corps would work hand-in-hand with the police in the matter.
"We will provide sufficient manpower if we were asked to assist... let's say if the police wanted 100 of our men in an operation to combat crime, we will provide the number asked," he told Bernama when contacted here today.
However, he said the decision whether to ask for Rela's help lay with the Inspector-General of Police.
comments
I have doubts. We will witness more power abuses by these people. Should have brought back the police to its original duties instead of harassing political talks by the opposition and rallies by the rakyat to practise democracy.
oh no. we do no need to deal with another agency which has shown to be power crazy and abusive. making them unofficial cops will make things worse with/out training as seen by the many complaints against them. we just need the police to do their job and focus on the rakyat instead of focusing on keeping their political masters happy and in power. Police need to walk the beat instead of walking the corridors of power. as it is the rakyat have taken on things by hiring security guards to patrol their homes etc. can you imagine crime rate if rakyat has not taken the initiative to hire security guards. security guards existence in non guarded neighborhoods are a sign of failure of the police.
New IGP and new directions very much needed by police. The key is how the rakyat feel and thus far it is not safe at all. Statistics in terms of KPIs, can be manipulated and the possibility crime index will improve due to KPIs is high but will it reflect safer streets and rakyat feeling safer, is a totally different story.
Rela willing to lend muscle to fight against crime
KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 -
The People's Volunteer Corps (Rela), responding to a call by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today, has expressed its willingness to cooperate with the police in efforts to curb crime on the streets.
Najib when announcing the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and the lead ministers for six national key results areas (NKRA) in Putrajaya said he wanted crime on the streets to be reduced by 20 per cent by the end of 2010.
Rela director-general Datuk Zaidon Asmuni said the corps would work hand-in-hand with the police in the matter.
"We will provide sufficient manpower if we were asked to assist ... let's say if the police wanted 100 of our men in an operation to combat crime, we will provide the number asked," he told Bernama when contacted here today.
However, he said the decision whether to ask for Rela's help lay with the Inspector-General of Police. - Bernama
Najib when announcing the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and the lead ministers for six national key results areas (NKRA) in Putrajaya said he wanted crime on the streets to be reduced by 20 per cent by the end of 2010.
Rela director-general Datuk Zaidon Asmuni said the corps would work hand-in-hand with the police in the matter.
"We will provide sufficient manpower if we were asked to assist ... let's say if the police wanted 100 of our men in an operation to combat crime, we will provide the number asked," he told Bernama when contacted here today.
However, he said the decision whether to ask for Rela's help lay with the Inspector-General of Police. - Bernama
Go to comments,
..
written by wkc, July 27, 2009
written by wkc, July 27, 2009
Which force or corps can we really trust to fight crime here ?
+4
...
written by PC Stone, July 27, 2009
Rela, thanks but no thanks as your members are criminal in uniforms ! Untrained, background uncheck and real bully !
+7
...
written by ajajal, July 27, 2009
Some people are lucky to have lots of coffee money blessing from the 1 Malaysia government.. keep it up
UMNO .
+4
...
written by rela-ka?, July 27, 2009
Rela men?
Thanks BUT no thank you.
You guys have a very glossy history when it comes to assistance or may i call it intervention.
Stick with your rukun tetangga duties.
+4
...
written by watchdog, July 28, 2009
Arrest the crooks in Rela and the crime rate will come down
+2
...
written by 2525, July 28, 2009
Now why don't they form a 'rela' to clean the street instead? Why are they so eager to pretend like cops?
+1
...
written by malaysia born, July 28, 2009
RELA to the rescue?
Might as well release all the prisoners in jail.
Those jokers should be disbanded immediately.
+3
...
written by Chris Chong, July 28, 2009
Holy Cow!
Is Najib for real? The last thing the country needs is a government-sanctioned band of thugs prowling the streets and harassing citizens by imposing their warped moral standards and logic.
The Rela officers are from the bottom of the barrel and have consistently shown poor judgment and a total lack of accountability for their actions. Giving them a wider jurisdiction will only further damage the credibility of Najib's administration.
+3
...
written by thinks, July 28, 2009
Rela? Thugs in uniform? Rent-seekers and opportunists? Err..no thanks....
+2
...
written by taskforce101, July 28, 2009
Malaysia continues its unstoppable march towards a police state.
Zimbabwe and North Korea will be our trading partners soon.
+1
...
written by Noel, July 28, 2009
RELA is uniformed gangtser
RELA should be demolished immediately
+2
...
written by PENING, July 28, 2009
Tak payah RELA menyebok. RELA tu samseng.
+0
...
written by Dr.Carl Benedict, July 28, 2009
Fight crime?
How many patrol and presence of Uniform body in the streets of high crime area?
We have many uniform personnel, but is it easy to see one on the streets in KL ?
+0
...
written by rocky, July 28, 2009
oh no. we do no need to deal with another agency which has shown to be power crazy and corrupt. we'
just need the police to do their job and focus on the rakyat instead of focusing on keeping their political masters happy and in power
Monday, July 27, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
The plight of refugees in Malaysia
PUTIK LADA
By ASTON PHILIP PAIVA
The public must strive to make themselves aware of the plight of refugees and endeavour to assist where possible.
WE have refugees in Malay-sia. This is a fact. As Malay-sians, we cannot turn a blind eye. But who exactly is a refugee?
Article 1 of the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (“the Convention”) defines a refugee, inter alia, as a person who “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.”
A refugee is not an economic migrant. An economic migrant is a person who has left his country seeking a better life and can always return to live peacefully.
If caught without travel documents here, he would be subject to Malaysia’s immigration laws and be considered an illegal immigrant.
A refugee, on the other hand, will be faced with the threat of persecution upon return. In other words, refugees are here in Malaysia not out of choice but out of necessity. As refugees have fled their country, they lack the necessary travel documents.
The Convention also outlines the rights of a refugee and as at 2008, it has been signed by 144 countries. However, Malaysia is not a signatory.
In Malaysia, our immigration laws, particularly the Immigration Act 1959/63 (Act 155), do not make a distinction between a refugee and an illegal immigrant (whether economic or otherwise).
It is in this regard that Malaysia continues to arrest, and deport, refugees in the country.
From an international platform, such action/punishment by the Malaysian authorities for someone who is running away from threats of persecution appears draconian.
In any event, penalties afforded by the law should, in fact, serve to rehabilitate the offender, not add further psychological and physical trauma.
It should be noted that Article 33 of the Convention stipulates that a refugee is not to be returned (non-refoulement) to his country of origin, as his life or freedom would be threatened.
In Malaysia, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR, set up to primarily safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees) began its operations in the 1970s with the arrival of the Vietnamese refugees.
The UNHCR interviews refugees to assess their circumstance before registering them and providing them with documentation i.e. an identity card.
This interview, as well as an investigative process, thoroughly assess all refugee applications to ensure the validity of the claims.
It is through this that UNHCR ensures a person has a valid claim for refugee status.
To date, the UNHCR has registered more than 45,000 persons of concern consisting of Myanmars, Sri Lankans, Iraqis, Somalis and Palestinians.
Myanmars tally the highest owing to the presence of the repressive military junta in Myanmar.
Unfortunately, as Malaysia is yet a signatory to the Convention, the identity cards issued by UNHCR remain unrecognised by our authorities, resulting in arrests, detention and deportation under Malaysia’s immigration laws.
Aside from evading arrests, refugees have various other afflictions. Fifty Refugees (http://fiftyrefugees.wordpress.com/) is a blog that provides real life accounts of the hardships suffered by the refugees in Malaysia: refugees scrounging for jobs, abuses by employers, victims of robberies; men are beaten, women are raped, and children have been displaced.
Being refugees, they have no legal standing in this country, and therefore, have no alternatives in their situation – no recourse to the law.
In fact, the Government has recently enacted the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act 2007 to provide for the offence of trafficking in persons as well as protection and support for trafficked persons.
However, the implementation to date has been rather pathetic as prosecution is slim and there is still no recognition for refugees.
In 2007, the then Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar was reported to have said: “If we recognise refugees, we could open the floodgates and encourage them to come here just to escape economic hardship in their own country.”
As explained, a refugee is different from an economic immigrant. This statement shows ignorance on the part of our authorities. I certainly hope this isn’t a reflection of the Malaysian conscience.
The Government aside, the Malaysian public must strive to make themselves aware of the plight of refugees domestically and internationally while endeavouring to assist where possible.
We cannot disregard the curtailment of human rights and democracy in Malaysia or foreign lands.
We are fortunate to be Malaysians and have a Constitution that guarantees everyone freedom of speech and equality.
We know what it feels like to be treated with dignity. We understand truth, justice and freedom.
We must now afford that privilege to everyone else, live by our conscience and use our liberty to promote democracy.
The writer is a young lawyer. Putik Lada, or pepper buds in Malay, captures the spirit and intention of this column — a platform for young lawyers to articulate their views and aspirations about the law, justice and a civil society. For more information about the young lawyers, please visit www.malaysianbar.org.my/nylc.
By ASTON PHILIP PAIVA
The public must strive to make themselves aware of the plight of refugees and endeavour to assist where possible.
WE have refugees in Malay-sia. This is a fact. As Malay-sians, we cannot turn a blind eye. But who exactly is a refugee?
Article 1 of the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (“the Convention”) defines a refugee, inter alia, as a person who “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.”
A refugee is not an economic migrant. An economic migrant is a person who has left his country seeking a better life and can always return to live peacefully.
If caught without travel documents here, he would be subject to Malaysia’s immigration laws and be considered an illegal immigrant.
A refugee, on the other hand, will be faced with the threat of persecution upon return. In other words, refugees are here in Malaysia not out of choice but out of necessity. As refugees have fled their country, they lack the necessary travel documents.
The Convention also outlines the rights of a refugee and as at 2008, it has been signed by 144 countries. However, Malaysia is not a signatory.
In Malaysia, our immigration laws, particularly the Immigration Act 1959/63 (Act 155), do not make a distinction between a refugee and an illegal immigrant (whether economic or otherwise).
It is in this regard that Malaysia continues to arrest, and deport, refugees in the country.
From an international platform, such action/punishment by the Malaysian authorities for someone who is running away from threats of persecution appears draconian.
In any event, penalties afforded by the law should, in fact, serve to rehabilitate the offender, not add further psychological and physical trauma.
It should be noted that Article 33 of the Convention stipulates that a refugee is not to be returned (non-refoulement) to his country of origin, as his life or freedom would be threatened.
In Malaysia, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR, set up to primarily safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees) began its operations in the 1970s with the arrival of the Vietnamese refugees.
The UNHCR interviews refugees to assess their circumstance before registering them and providing them with documentation i.e. an identity card.
This interview, as well as an investigative process, thoroughly assess all refugee applications to ensure the validity of the claims.
It is through this that UNHCR ensures a person has a valid claim for refugee status.
To date, the UNHCR has registered more than 45,000 persons of concern consisting of Myanmars, Sri Lankans, Iraqis, Somalis and Palestinians.
Myanmars tally the highest owing to the presence of the repressive military junta in Myanmar.
Unfortunately, as Malaysia is yet a signatory to the Convention, the identity cards issued by UNHCR remain unrecognised by our authorities, resulting in arrests, detention and deportation under Malaysia’s immigration laws.
Aside from evading arrests, refugees have various other afflictions. Fifty Refugees (http://fiftyrefugees.wordpress.com/) is a blog that provides real life accounts of the hardships suffered by the refugees in Malaysia: refugees scrounging for jobs, abuses by employers, victims of robberies; men are beaten, women are raped, and children have been displaced.
Being refugees, they have no legal standing in this country, and therefore, have no alternatives in their situation – no recourse to the law.
In fact, the Government has recently enacted the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act 2007 to provide for the offence of trafficking in persons as well as protection and support for trafficked persons.
However, the implementation to date has been rather pathetic as prosecution is slim and there is still no recognition for refugees.
In 2007, the then Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar was reported to have said: “If we recognise refugees, we could open the floodgates and encourage them to come here just to escape economic hardship in their own country.”
As explained, a refugee is different from an economic immigrant. This statement shows ignorance on the part of our authorities. I certainly hope this isn’t a reflection of the Malaysian conscience.
The Government aside, the Malaysian public must strive to make themselves aware of the plight of refugees domestically and internationally while endeavouring to assist where possible.
We cannot disregard the curtailment of human rights and democracy in Malaysia or foreign lands.
We are fortunate to be Malaysians and have a Constitution that guarantees everyone freedom of speech and equality.
We know what it feels like to be treated with dignity. We understand truth, justice and freedom.
We must now afford that privilege to everyone else, live by our conscience and use our liberty to promote democracy.
The writer is a young lawyer. Putik Lada, or pepper buds in Malay, captures the spirit and intention of this column — a platform for young lawyers to articulate their views and aspirations about the law, justice and a civil society. For more information about the young lawyers, please visit www.malaysianbar.org.my/nylc.
Volunteer Corps Targets 100,000 New Recruits By 2012
PASIR PUTEH, July 26 (Bernama) -- The Kelantan People's Volunteer Corps (Rela) is targeting 100,000 new recruits, especially among the youth, by 2012, its director Saufi Abdul Rahman said.
At the moment the voluntary corps has 46,000 members in the state.
"We want to register 3,000 members a month in all 45 state constituencies," he told reporters after closing the Pasir Puteh Rela course here Sunday.
He said that the recruitment drive was in line with Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein's directive for Rela to increase the number of members, from 553,000 at the moment to 2.5 million in 2012.
He also called on Rela members in border areas such as Tumpat, Rantau Panjang, Tanah Merah and Jeli to be on the alert for possible rise in smuggling activities during the upcoming festive season.
-- BERNAMA
At the moment the voluntary corps has 46,000 members in the state.
"We want to register 3,000 members a month in all 45 state constituencies," he told reporters after closing the Pasir Puteh Rela course here Sunday.
He said that the recruitment drive was in line with Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein's directive for Rela to increase the number of members, from 553,000 at the moment to 2.5 million in 2012.
He also called on Rela members in border areas such as Tumpat, Rantau Panjang, Tanah Merah and Jeli to be on the alert for possible rise in smuggling activities during the upcoming festive season.
-- BERNAMA
Volunteer Corps Targets 100,000 New Recruits By 2012
PASIR PUTEH, July 26 (Bernama) -- The Kelantan People's Volunteer Corps (Rela) is targeting 100,000 new recruits, especially among the youth, by 2012, its director Saufi Abdul Rahman said.
At the moment the voluntary corps has 46,000 members in the state.
"We want to register 3,000 members a month in all 45 state constituencies," he told reporters after closing the Pasir Puteh Rela course here Sunday.
He said that the recruitment drive was in line with Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein's directive for Rela to increase the number of members, from 553,000 at the moment to 2.5 million in 2012.
He also called on Rela members in border areas such as Tumpat, Rantau Panjang, Tanah Merah and Jeli to be on the alert for possible rise in smuggling activities during the upcoming festive season.
-- BERNAMA
At the moment the voluntary corps has 46,000 members in the state.
"We want to register 3,000 members a month in all 45 state constituencies," he told reporters after closing the Pasir Puteh Rela course here Sunday.
He said that the recruitment drive was in line with Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein's directive for Rela to increase the number of members, from 553,000 at the moment to 2.5 million in 2012.
He also called on Rela members in border areas such as Tumpat, Rantau Panjang, Tanah Merah and Jeli to be on the alert for possible rise in smuggling activities during the upcoming festive season.
-- BERNAMA
Friday, July 24, 2009
2009 Annual Report for Malaysia
By Amnesty International USA
Head of state Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal
Abidin
Head of government Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Death penalty retentionist
Population 27 million
Life expectancy 73.7 years
Under-5 mortality (m/f) 12/10 per 1,000
Adult literacy 88.7 per cent
The government tightened control of dissent and curtailed the right to freedom of expression and religion. Bloggers were arrested under the Sedition Act, and the Printing Press and Publications Act (PPPA) was used to control newspaper content. Ten people were arbitrarily arrested and detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA). Security forces continued to use excessive force while the establishment of an independent police complaints misconduct commission was postponed. Immigration personnel and volunteers conducted mass arrests of migrant workers. At least 22 people were sentenced to death. The number executed was unknown.
Background
During March elections, the opposition won control of five of Malaysia’s 13 states and 82 of the 222 parliamentary seats, ending the overwhelming majority held by the Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition. In August, opposition leader and former ISA detainee Anwar Ibrahim was elected to Parliament.
"Mechanic Sanjeev Kumar became paralyzed and mentally unstable, allegedly as a result of torture while in detention..."
Freedom of expression
Authorities suspended or threatened to cancel publishing permits under the PPPA, and arrested bloggers under the Sedition Act.
In April, authorities suspended the publishing permit of Tamil daily Makkal Osai , allegedly for giving extensive coverage to the opposition coalition in the run-up to the elections.
In May, authorities threatened to revoke the publishing licence of the Catholic newspaper The Herald for using the word “Allah” as a synonym for “God”.
In September, blogger Syed Azidi Syed was arrested and detained for three days under the Sedition Act allegedly for posting an article that called on people to fly the Malaysian flag upside down as a protest against certain government policies.
In May, blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin was charged under the Sedition Act for an article in which he allegedly implied the involvement of the Deputy Prime Minister in the murder of a Mongolian woman. In September, he was arbitrarily arrested and detained under the ISA. Six days before his arrest, the Home Minister was quoted as saying that he could be arrested under the ISA for insulting Muslims and degrading Islam in articles that appeared on his website. The Home Minister issued a two-year detention order, which is renewable indefinitely. In November, after much public discussion, the High Court ruled that he be released.
Detention without trial
Ten people were arrested under the ISA in 2008. At year’s end, there were at least 50 ISA detainees, including 17 who had been detained for between four and eight years without charge or trial. Thirty-one detainees were known to have been released, including four Indonesian nationals who were deported.
Mechanic Sanjeev Kumar, who became paralyzed and mentally unstable, allegedly as a result of torture while in detention, was released in September. At the end of the year he was under restricted residence orders.
Five leaders of the Hindu Rights Action Force remained detained for organizing rallies against the marginalization of ethnic Indian Malaysians. In March, while in detention, Manoharan Malayalam was elected to the state assembly. In May, the Federal Court dismissed their appeal for habeas corpus saying that their arrest had been lawful. They have since appealed against the decision to the Federal Court. Amnesty International considers them to be prisoners of conscience.
Excessive use of force
In May, opposition MP Lim Lip Eng was beaten by security personnel believed to be from the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) after he attempted to mediate in a stand-off between police and residents in a road access dispute.
In May, at least 10 uniformed men allegedly from the FRU forcibly dragged mechanic Chang Jium Haur from his car and beat him until he lost consciousness. To date, no one has been prosecuted for the incident.
Parliament postponed discussion on the Special Complaints Commission Bill, a proposal from government to monitor police misconduct that was highly criticized by local and international human rights groups.
Migrants’ rights, refugees and asylum-seekers
One third of Malaysia’s three million migrants remained at risk of arrest and deportation due to their irregular status, including unknown numbers who feared persecution if returned to their home country. The government makes no distinction between migrant workers and asylum-seekers and refugees. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees had registered 41,405 people of concern as of August, of whom 11,172 were children. Eighty-eight per cent were from Myanmar.
In March, the Prisons Department completed the handover of 11 immigration detention centres to the Immigration Department. The 480,000 untrained volunteers from the Relawan Ikatan Rakyat (Rela, People’s Volunteer Corps) took over management of the centres. Reports of serious abuses against detainees by Rela members increased.
In April, a riot broke out in Lenggeng Immigration Detention Centre in protest against the severe beating of some detainees and the deplorable conditions in the immigration centre.
Rela members, who can make arrests without a warrant or assistance from police or immigration officers, failed to distinguish between asylum-seekers, refugees, stateless persons, and migrant workers during their immigration operations. In one operation in August, Rela arrested some 11,600 people, to find out after processing that only 500 did not have a regular immigration status.
In June, the Home Minister announced a crackdown that aimed to deport 200,000 irregular migrants, mainly Filipinos. Philippine government figures suggested that 35,000 had been deported as of August. Thousands more had been deported by the end of the year. The Philippines Human Rights Commission was investigating allegations of beatings and overcrowded conditions of detention during the operation.
Freedom of religion
The politicization of religion markedly increased in 2008. People continued to face barriers to conversion from Islam.
In March, Muslim-born woman Kamariah Ali was sentenced by a Shari’a court to two years’ imprisonment for renouncing Islam.
In August, a Bar Council forum into legal conflicts faced by Malaysian families if a spouse converts to Islam was forced to stop midway through the event by police and Islamist protesters because the protesters were threatening to forcibly enter the venue. No action was taken against the protesters.
Discrimination
Racial discrimination remained institutionalized in Malaysia, particularly in government-backed “affirmative action policies” for Bumiputeras (Malays and Indigenous Peoples from Sabah and Sarawak) in land ownership, employment and education, which in some cases resulted in the complete exclusion of other groups.
There was a public outcry in August after a state official proposed that the University Teknologi Mara (UITM) allocate 10 per cent of university places to non-Malays. The university, home to 120,000 students, has been open only to Malays for the last five decades. The Prime Minister and the Minister of Higher Education rejected the proposal.
Death penalty
In January, the NGO Malaysians Against the Death Penalty estimated the number of inmates on death row to be as high as 300, mostly for drug offences. Amnesty International is aware of 22 people sentenced to death by the High Courts in 2008, while the number of those executed was unknown.
In December, Malaysia voted against a UN General Assembly resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium on executions.
Cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments
Caning continued to be used to punish many offences, including immigration offences.
Abidin
Head of government Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Death penalty retentionist
Population 27 million
Life expectancy 73.7 years
Under-5 mortality (m/f) 12/10 per 1,000
Adult literacy 88.7 per cent
The government tightened control of dissent and curtailed the right to freedom of expression and religion. Bloggers were arrested under the Sedition Act, and the Printing Press and Publications Act (PPPA) was used to control newspaper content. Ten people were arbitrarily arrested and detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA). Security forces continued to use excessive force while the establishment of an independent police complaints misconduct commission was postponed. Immigration personnel and volunteers conducted mass arrests of migrant workers. At least 22 people were sentenced to death. The number executed was unknown.
Background
During March elections, the opposition won control of five of Malaysia’s 13 states and 82 of the 222 parliamentary seats, ending the overwhelming majority held by the Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition. In August, opposition leader and former ISA detainee Anwar Ibrahim was elected to Parliament.
"Mechanic Sanjeev Kumar became paralyzed and mentally unstable, allegedly as a result of torture while in detention..."
Freedom of expression
Authorities suspended or threatened to cancel publishing permits under the PPPA, and arrested bloggers under the Sedition Act.
In April, authorities suspended the publishing permit of Tamil daily Makkal Osai , allegedly for giving extensive coverage to the opposition coalition in the run-up to the elections.
In May, authorities threatened to revoke the publishing licence of the Catholic newspaper The Herald for using the word “Allah” as a synonym for “God”.
In September, blogger Syed Azidi Syed was arrested and detained for three days under the Sedition Act allegedly for posting an article that called on people to fly the Malaysian flag upside down as a protest against certain government policies.
In May, blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin was charged under the Sedition Act for an article in which he allegedly implied the involvement of the Deputy Prime Minister in the murder of a Mongolian woman. In September, he was arbitrarily arrested and detained under the ISA. Six days before his arrest, the Home Minister was quoted as saying that he could be arrested under the ISA for insulting Muslims and degrading Islam in articles that appeared on his website. The Home Minister issued a two-year detention order, which is renewable indefinitely. In November, after much public discussion, the High Court ruled that he be released.
Detention without trial
Ten people were arrested under the ISA in 2008. At year’s end, there were at least 50 ISA detainees, including 17 who had been detained for between four and eight years without charge or trial. Thirty-one detainees were known to have been released, including four Indonesian nationals who were deported.
Mechanic Sanjeev Kumar, who became paralyzed and mentally unstable, allegedly as a result of torture while in detention, was released in September. At the end of the year he was under restricted residence orders.
Five leaders of the Hindu Rights Action Force remained detained for organizing rallies against the marginalization of ethnic Indian Malaysians. In March, while in detention, Manoharan Malayalam was elected to the state assembly. In May, the Federal Court dismissed their appeal for habeas corpus saying that their arrest had been lawful. They have since appealed against the decision to the Federal Court. Amnesty International considers them to be prisoners of conscience.
Excessive use of force
In May, opposition MP Lim Lip Eng was beaten by security personnel believed to be from the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) after he attempted to mediate in a stand-off between police and residents in a road access dispute.
In May, at least 10 uniformed men allegedly from the FRU forcibly dragged mechanic Chang Jium Haur from his car and beat him until he lost consciousness. To date, no one has been prosecuted for the incident.
Parliament postponed discussion on the Special Complaints Commission Bill, a proposal from government to monitor police misconduct that was highly criticized by local and international human rights groups.
Migrants’ rights, refugees and asylum-seekers
One third of Malaysia’s three million migrants remained at risk of arrest and deportation due to their irregular status, including unknown numbers who feared persecution if returned to their home country. The government makes no distinction between migrant workers and asylum-seekers and refugees. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees had registered 41,405 people of concern as of August, of whom 11,172 were children. Eighty-eight per cent were from Myanmar.
In March, the Prisons Department completed the handover of 11 immigration detention centres to the Immigration Department. The 480,000 untrained volunteers from the Relawan Ikatan Rakyat (Rela, People’s Volunteer Corps) took over management of the centres. Reports of serious abuses against detainees by Rela members increased.
In April, a riot broke out in Lenggeng Immigration Detention Centre in protest against the severe beating of some detainees and the deplorable conditions in the immigration centre.
Rela members, who can make arrests without a warrant or assistance from police or immigration officers, failed to distinguish between asylum-seekers, refugees, stateless persons, and migrant workers during their immigration operations. In one operation in August, Rela arrested some 11,600 people, to find out after processing that only 500 did not have a regular immigration status.
In June, the Home Minister announced a crackdown that aimed to deport 200,000 irregular migrants, mainly Filipinos. Philippine government figures suggested that 35,000 had been deported as of August. Thousands more had been deported by the end of the year. The Philippines Human Rights Commission was investigating allegations of beatings and overcrowded conditions of detention during the operation.
Freedom of religion
The politicization of religion markedly increased in 2008. People continued to face barriers to conversion from Islam.
In March, Muslim-born woman Kamariah Ali was sentenced by a Shari’a court to two years’ imprisonment for renouncing Islam.
In August, a Bar Council forum into legal conflicts faced by Malaysian families if a spouse converts to Islam was forced to stop midway through the event by police and Islamist protesters because the protesters were threatening to forcibly enter the venue. No action was taken against the protesters.
Discrimination
Racial discrimination remained institutionalized in Malaysia, particularly in government-backed “affirmative action policies” for Bumiputeras (Malays and Indigenous Peoples from Sabah and Sarawak) in land ownership, employment and education, which in some cases resulted in the complete exclusion of other groups.
There was a public outcry in August after a state official proposed that the University Teknologi Mara (UITM) allocate 10 per cent of university places to non-Malays. The university, home to 120,000 students, has been open only to Malays for the last five decades. The Prime Minister and the Minister of Higher Education rejected the proposal.
Death penalty
In January, the NGO Malaysians Against the Death Penalty estimated the number of inmates on death row to be as high as 300, mostly for drug offences. Amnesty International is aware of 22 people sentenced to death by the High Courts in 2008, while the number of those executed was unknown.
In December, Malaysia voted against a UN General Assembly resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium on executions.
Cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments
Caning continued to be used to punish many offences, including immigration offences.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
2 died in Juru Detention Centre of Leptospirosis
Thursday, July 23, 2009
We send this statement to Malaysia's Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) , and we have just received a reply
2 deaths in custody, and last year, we were told of another 1,300 foreigners who died in detention. Is this all that SUHAKAM will do. Surely, the persons who did not send the 2 Burmese migrants to hospital in time is criminally liable for the deaths...Surely, the Home Minister, who did not heed the advice of SUHAKAM about medicaol care is responsible for the death of these 2 Burmese...What about apology to the families of the deceased? What about compensations?
Will SUHAKAM hold a public inquiry - looks like it won't..
Will there be a Royal Commission? Looks like, the answer is no..they are just some migrants after all.. An inquest - maybe. We shall wait and see.
2 died in Juru Detention Centre of Leptospirosis -
The SUHAKAM response.
We send this statement to Malaysia's Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) , and we have just received a reply
2 deaths in custody, and last year, we were told of another 1,300 foreigners who died in detention. Is this all that SUHAKAM will do. Surely, the persons who did not send the 2 Burmese migrants to hospital in time is criminally liable for the deaths...Surely, the Home Minister, who did not heed the advice of SUHAKAM about medicaol care is responsible for the death of these 2 Burmese...What about apology to the families of the deceased? What about compensations?
Will SUHAKAM hold a public inquiry - looks like it won't..
Will there be a Royal Commission? Looks like, the answer is no..they are just some migrants after all.. An inquest - maybe. We shall wait and see.
Last year Suhakam, Malaysia's Human Rights Commission, identified medical care as an overriding reason why 1,300 detainees have died over the past six years....Dato Siva Subramaniam, a Suhakam commissioner, told Radio Australia's Connect Asia program denial of health care was a violation of detainees' right to life....He noted that the 1,300 deaths notified to parliament covered not only immigration detention centres but prisons and police lock-ups.
Sources :
http://charleshector.blogspot.com/2009/07/2-died-in-juru-detention-centre-of.html
ABC News(28/5/2009) Malaysia detention centres 'violating rights'
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
DG: Officers innocent until proven quilty
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 06:42:00
THE nine Immigration officers who are suspects in a human trafficking case will be removed from their current
positions and transferred to other sections while waiting for police investigations to be completed.
Five are senior officers attached to the Pekan Nanas Immigration Detention Depot in Johor for several years.
Immigration directorgeneral Abdul Rahman Othman said the suspects will not be suspended from their duty until they are charged in court.
"They have yet to be proven guilty," said Abdul Rahman, adding that they are also conducting their own investigation. He also said that the department needs to also find out how long these illegal activities have been going on.
"With this latest development, we will closely monitor our officers' movements especially those assigned at the Thai-Malaysia border," said Abdul Rahman.
He said the arrest of his officers have marred the department's image and promised to work closely with the police to curb this problem.
The officers were believed to have smuggled the Rohingya immigrants who do not possess any United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) card.
Pekan Nanas Immigration Detention Depot is one of the 13 illegal immigrants detention centres in Malaysia. It has a capacity of 750 immigrants, while about 70 immigration officers are stationed there.
Two days ago, Bukit Aman CID director Datuk Seri MohdBakri Mohd Zinin revealed that police had made arrests in connection with human trafficking. The nine suspects are with the Immigration enforcement department and five are senior officers.
The suspects aged between 25 and 40 were arrested last Friday at various locations in Johor Baru and have been remanded until July 24.
An immigrant would usually pay between RM300 and RM2,000 to the local syndicate to manage their entry via Perlis or Kelantan.
If they fail to pay, they will be forced into labour at some fishery operations. The crackdown against human trafficking was triggered by a United States report earlier this year that Malaysia was not doing enough to address human trafficking in the country.
The US State Department had, in its annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, placed Malaysia along Zimbabwe, Cuba and North Korea, among others, on the listof worst offenders for human trafficking.
The report referred to another report by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee three months ago,
which accused Malaysian Immigration officers of selling Myanmar refugees for about US$200 (RM700) a person to traffickers operating along Thailand's southern border.
The Prosecution Unit head at the Attorney-General's Chambers, Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah, had then said errant immigration officers, in various locations in Peninsular Malaysia would be prosecuted if they are involve.
THE nine Immigration officers who are suspects in a human trafficking case will be removed from their current
positions and transferred to other sections while waiting for police investigations to be completed.
Five are senior officers attached to the Pekan Nanas Immigration Detention Depot in Johor for several years.
Immigration directorgeneral Abdul Rahman Othman said the suspects will not be suspended from their duty until they are charged in court.
"They have yet to be proven guilty," said Abdul Rahman, adding that they are also conducting their own investigation. He also said that the department needs to also find out how long these illegal activities have been going on.
"With this latest development, we will closely monitor our officers' movements especially those assigned at the Thai-Malaysia border," said Abdul Rahman.
He said the arrest of his officers have marred the department's image and promised to work closely with the police to curb this problem.
The officers were believed to have smuggled the Rohingya immigrants who do not possess any United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) card.
Pekan Nanas Immigration Detention Depot is one of the 13 illegal immigrants detention centres in Malaysia. It has a capacity of 750 immigrants, while about 70 immigration officers are stationed there.
Two days ago, Bukit Aman CID director Datuk Seri MohdBakri Mohd Zinin revealed that police had made arrests in connection with human trafficking. The nine suspects are with the Immigration enforcement department and five are senior officers.
The suspects aged between 25 and 40 were arrested last Friday at various locations in Johor Baru and have been remanded until July 24.
An immigrant would usually pay between RM300 and RM2,000 to the local syndicate to manage their entry via Perlis or Kelantan.
If they fail to pay, they will be forced into labour at some fishery operations. The crackdown against human trafficking was triggered by a United States report earlier this year that Malaysia was not doing enough to address human trafficking in the country.
The US State Department had, in its annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, placed Malaysia along Zimbabwe, Cuba and North Korea, among others, on the listof worst offenders for human trafficking.
The report referred to another report by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee three months ago,
which accused Malaysian Immigration officers of selling Myanmar refugees for about US$200 (RM700) a person to traffickers operating along Thailand's southern border.
The Prosecution Unit head at the Attorney-General's Chambers, Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah, had then said errant immigration officers, in various locations in Peninsular Malaysia would be prosecuted if they are involve.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Malaysia Searches For Best Candidate For Asean Human Rights Body
By D Arul Rajoo
PHUKET, July 21 (Bernama) -- Malaysia will search for the best candidate to represent the country in the proposed Asean human rights body which is expected to be launched during the 15th Asean Summit here in October.
Foreign Minister Datuk Anifah Aman said Tuesday as there was no specific selection criteria the candidate would not be limited to any particular background or sector.
"They can be retired judges, civil servants or NGOs (non governmental organisations). We are looking for the best possible person and the earlier the better", he told Malaysian media here after attending the Fourth Asean Coordinating Council Meeting.
Anifah said the person could be someone with a record of pursuing and being passionate about human rights in Malaysia.
When asked if the Government would pick someone from the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), Anifah said it would be good to give others a chance.
The body, to be known as the Asean Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights, is being established under the Asean Charter to promote human rights in the 10-member regional grouping.
Anifah also said he had told his counterparts that there was a need for all parties concerned to address the root causes of human trafficking by developing the necessary capacities and institutions.
"This is not only related to illegal immigrants from Myanmar like the Rohingyas but also those from Southern Philippines. The Ministers recognised the need to enhance the cooperation between the countries of origin, transit and destination," he said.
According to him, based on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) report, there are 43,456 'Persons of Concern to the UNHCR' from Myanmar in Malaysia as of June 1, 2009, including 15,483 who are ethnic Rohingyas.
The issue of Rohingyas dominated Asean meetings since early this year after the Thai navy was accused of turning back their boats. Some of the Rohingyas were found floating in the Indian Ocean and some made it to Acheh in Indonesia.
-- BERNAMA
PHUKET, July 21 (Bernama) -- Malaysia will search for the best candidate to represent the country in the proposed Asean human rights body which is expected to be launched during the 15th Asean Summit here in October.
Foreign Minister Datuk Anifah Aman said Tuesday as there was no specific selection criteria the candidate would not be limited to any particular background or sector.
"They can be retired judges, civil servants or NGOs (non governmental organisations). We are looking for the best possible person and the earlier the better", he told Malaysian media here after attending the Fourth Asean Coordinating Council Meeting.
Anifah said the person could be someone with a record of pursuing and being passionate about human rights in Malaysia.
When asked if the Government would pick someone from the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), Anifah said it would be good to give others a chance.
The body, to be known as the Asean Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights, is being established under the Asean Charter to promote human rights in the 10-member regional grouping.
Anifah also said he had told his counterparts that there was a need for all parties concerned to address the root causes of human trafficking by developing the necessary capacities and institutions.
"This is not only related to illegal immigrants from Myanmar like the Rohingyas but also those from Southern Philippines. The Ministers recognised the need to enhance the cooperation between the countries of origin, transit and destination," he said.
According to him, based on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) report, there are 43,456 'Persons of Concern to the UNHCR' from Myanmar in Malaysia as of June 1, 2009, including 15,483 who are ethnic Rohingyas.
The issue of Rohingyas dominated Asean meetings since early this year after the Thai navy was accused of turning back their boats. Some of the Rohingyas were found floating in the Indian Ocean and some made it to Acheh in Indonesia.
-- BERNAMA
Malaysian officers held over Myanmar migrant sale
Malaysian authorities have arrested five immigration officers suspected of selling illegal immigrants from Myanmar to human traffickers, police said Tuesday.
It is the first time Malaysia has found evidence that government officials were involved in the forced labor exploitation of Myanmar migrants at its border with Thailand _ an accusation that prompted the U.S. State Department to put Malaysia on a list of top trafficking offenders last month.
Police federal crimes investigation head Mohamad Bakri Zinin said authorities have arrested five Immigration Department officers and four bus drivers over the past five days.
Investigations showed the officers brought Myanmar migrants _ who lived in Malaysia without valid travel documents _ to Malaysia's northern border with Thailand and handed them to human traffickers in exchange for up to 600 ringgit ($170) for each.
The traffickers took the migrants into Thailand and told them to pay 2,000 ringgit ($570) each for their freedom or they would be forced to work in the fishing industry, Mohamad Bakri said. "These things really happen," Mohamad Bakri said.
All nine arrested could be charged for profiting from the exploitation of trafficked persons, he said. The bus drivers allegedly helped transport the migrants to the border. If convicted, they face up to 15 years in prison.
The officers arrested were reportedly senior state-level personnel. Immigration officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
In April, a report by the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations said illegal Myanmar migrants deported from Malaysia have been forced to work in brothels, fishing boats and restaurants across the border in Thailand if they had no money to buy their freedom.
The U.S. State Department recommended that Malaysia fully implement and enforce its anti-trafficking laws _ which have been in place for several years _ and increase prosecutions, convictions and sentences for trafficking.
The United Nations refugee agency has registered more than 48,000 refugees in Malaysia, most from Myanmar. But community leaders estimate the number of people from military-ruled Myanmar living in Malaysia is about twice that.
It is the first time Malaysia has found evidence that government officials were involved in the forced labor exploitation of Myanmar migrants at its border with Thailand _ an accusation that prompted the U.S. State Department to put Malaysia on a list of top trafficking offenders last month.
Police federal crimes investigation head Mohamad Bakri Zinin said authorities have arrested five Immigration Department officers and four bus drivers over the past five days.
Investigations showed the officers brought Myanmar migrants _ who lived in Malaysia without valid travel documents _ to Malaysia's northern border with Thailand and handed them to human traffickers in exchange for up to 600 ringgit ($170) for each.
The traffickers took the migrants into Thailand and told them to pay 2,000 ringgit ($570) each for their freedom or they would be forced to work in the fishing industry, Mohamad Bakri said. "These things really happen," Mohamad Bakri said.
All nine arrested could be charged for profiting from the exploitation of trafficked persons, he said. The bus drivers allegedly helped transport the migrants to the border. If convicted, they face up to 15 years in prison.
The officers arrested were reportedly senior state-level personnel. Immigration officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
In April, a report by the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations said illegal Myanmar migrants deported from Malaysia have been forced to work in brothels, fishing boats and restaurants across the border in Thailand if they had no money to buy their freedom.
The U.S. State Department recommended that Malaysia fully implement and enforce its anti-trafficking laws _ which have been in place for several years _ and increase prosecutions, convictions and sentences for trafficking.
The United Nations refugee agency has registered more than 48,000 refugees in Malaysia, most from Myanmar. But community leaders estimate the number of people from military-ruled Myanmar living in Malaysia is about twice that.
Malaysia busts immigration officials over trafficking
2009-07-21 15:31
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Malaysian police have arrested five immigration officials for involvement in an international trafficking syndicate dealing in refugees from Myanmar, a top officer said Tuesday.
The five were among nine people detained for receiving payments from a syndicate that "sold" refugees mostly from Myanmar's Rohingya minority as forced labour, Criminal Investigation Department head Mohammad Bakri Zinin told state media.
His comments were confirmed to AFP by police.
"According to a victim, the suspects were directly involved in human trafficking, starting from the Malaysia-Thai border" to other "exit points to international countries," he told state news agency Bernama.
"Upon reaching the exit point, the victims were handed over to a syndicate before being taken to a neighbouring country," he added without identifying the exit points.
Bakri said the refugees were charged between 300 to 600 ringgit (85 to 169 dollars) each and those who could not afford to pay would be sold to owners of fishing industries in Thailand until they worked off their debts, the New Straits Times reported.
He said the five immigration officers had been operating their network since last year with the other four people arrested responsible for transporting the illegals across the county, the paper reported.
Police were made aware of the group's existence in March this year.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said recently his country was being used as a transit point for illegal immigrants.
One of Asia's largest importers of labour, Malaysia relies on its 2.2 million migrants to clean homes, care for children and work in plantations and factories.
The Bengali-speaking Rohingya Muslims are from mainly Buddhist Myanmar, which denies the minority group citizenship and property rights, leading to their abuse, exploitation and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their country. (AFP)
MySinchew 2009.07.21
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Malaysian police have arrested five immigration officials for involvement in an international trafficking syndicate dealing in refugees from Myanmar, a top officer said Tuesday.
The five were among nine people detained for receiving payments from a syndicate that "sold" refugees mostly from Myanmar's Rohingya minority as forced labour, Criminal Investigation Department head Mohammad Bakri Zinin told state media.
His comments were confirmed to AFP by police.
"According to a victim, the suspects were directly involved in human trafficking, starting from the Malaysia-Thai border" to other "exit points to international countries," he told state news agency Bernama.
"Upon reaching the exit point, the victims were handed over to a syndicate before being taken to a neighbouring country," he added without identifying the exit points.
Bakri said the refugees were charged between 300 to 600 ringgit (85 to 169 dollars) each and those who could not afford to pay would be sold to owners of fishing industries in Thailand until they worked off their debts, the New Straits Times reported.
He said the five immigration officers had been operating their network since last year with the other four people arrested responsible for transporting the illegals across the county, the paper reported.
Police were made aware of the group's existence in March this year.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said recently his country was being used as a transit point for illegal immigrants.
One of Asia's largest importers of labour, Malaysia relies on its 2.2 million migrants to clean homes, care for children and work in plantations and factories.
The Bengali-speaking Rohingya Muslims are from mainly Buddhist Myanmar, which denies the minority group citizenship and property rights, leading to their abuse, exploitation and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their country. (AFP)
MySinchew 2009.07.21
Amnesty In’t: Stop caning immigrants
International human rights watchdog Amnesty International has called for the Malaysian government to do away with caning as a punishment for immigration offences.
MCPX
“Caning is a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, prohibited under international human rights law.
“The practice is humiliating, and causes such pain that people have reportedly fainted. Those caned often carry scars, psychological as well as physical, for years. The severity of the pain and suffering often means that whipping is in fact a form of torture,” said the watchdog in a statement issued today.
Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein had told Parliament on June 17 that 34,923 migrants have been caned since 2002 and 2008 in a written reply to a question by Bukit Bendera DAP parliamentarian Liew Chin Tong.
It was also stated in the reply that out of the 34,923 migrants who were caned 60.2 percent were Indonesians, 14.1 percent Filipinos and 13.9 percent Burmese.
MCPX
“Caning is a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, prohibited under international human rights law.
“The practice is humiliating, and causes such pain that people have reportedly fainted. Those caned often carry scars, psychological as well as physical, for years. The severity of the pain and suffering often means that whipping is in fact a form of torture,” said the watchdog in a statement issued today.
Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein had told Parliament on June 17 that 34,923 migrants have been caned since 2002 and 2008 in a written reply to a question by Bukit Bendera DAP parliamentarian Liew Chin Tong.
It was also stated in the reply that out of the 34,923 migrants who were caned 60.2 percent were Indonesians, 14.1 percent Filipinos and 13.9 percent Burmese.
Treaty must be ratified
According to Amnesty, over 47,000 migrants have been whipped since amendments incorporating corporeal punishment were added to the Immigration Act came into force in 2002.
The amendments constitute a mandatory sentence of whipping of up to six strokes, fines and up to five years imprisonment for foreigners who are here illegally.
“Whipping someone with a cane is cruel, inhuman and degrading and international standards make clear that such treatment constitutes torture,” said Amnesty, also urging the government to repeal all other form of corporal punishment.
The watchdog also raised concern that undocumented workers, documented workers whose passports have been withheld by their employers, asylum seekers and refugees are also at risk of being caned.
Ratify human rights treaties
The watchdog reiterated that Malaysia should ratify relevant human rights treaties, and in particular the Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the Migrant Workers’ Convention.
Last month, the United States put Malaysia back on the blacklist of countries trafficking in people after removing the country from the list last year.
Among the reasons stated included the poor treatment of foreign domestic helpers.
On June 18, another report declared Malaysia as the worst place for refugees for the second consecutive year.
Monday, July 20, 2009
By Chutima Sidasathian and Alan Morison
Sunday, July 19, 2009
AID organisations are frustrated at being denied access to detained Rohingya boat people in Thailand, raising fears for their health after a young refugee died in custody.The death of a teenage boy has focused attention on the plight of his 77 surviving companions. All males, aged as young as 14, they were arrested on a boat in
The boat people being interviewed in a police jail in January
Photo by phuketwan.com
January.This was the first group of boat people to escape the notorious "push-backs" orchestrated by the Thai military, which saw hundreds of boat people die when forced out to sea in wooden vessels without motors.
Share
Share
The practice was abandoned after the consequences and inhumane nature of the practice were exposed by Phuketwan and the South China Morning Post newspaper in Hong Kong.The future of the detained Rohingya refugees, and hundreds of thousands of others who remain stateless and persecuted in northern Burma, Bangladesh and Malaysia is likely to be raised this week when Asean foreign ministers meet on Phuket.During April at a ministerial conference of the so-called Bali Process on Human Trafficking, Burma's national police chief, Brigadier General Khin Yi, refused to accept the Rohingya as Burmese citizens and denied any persecution.But he did offer Burma's co-operation with international efforts to provide aid and development in northern Rakhine state, where many Rohingya come from.Any proposal for a solution will come too late for 18-year-old Abdul Salam, who died in hospital in the Thai-Burma border town of Ranong on June 30.Thai officials said he had been sick for some time and died from cardiac arrest. Because the Thai authorities have refused access to aid organisations, the health of the surviving boat people in custody remains unclear."Lack of access and information about the detainees in Ranong have been my main frustration," an official at one aid organisation said."My research partner interviewed Rohingya detainees in India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, but was unable to talk to those in Ranong."Another aid organisation confirmed it had also been denied access, as have Phuketwan reporters.Last month, 29 of the detainees claimed Bangladeshi citizenship and have since been transferred to Bangkok, where they were to undergo background checks.Access has also been denied to that group.''I have concerns about Bangladesh's procedures,'' the NGO official said. ''Hundreds of Bangladeshis have been detained for a long time in Malaysia and Bangladesh never pays for the costs of their repatriation.''A proposal for a meeting of the countries most affected by the exodus of Rohingyas is likely to be considered at this week's Asean meeting."What have Asean and other affected countries done to address the plight of the Rohingya people since the crisis?" the aid official said."It is clear to me that they are putting in place deterrence mechanisms, rather than addressing the root causes."If nothing is resolved, a new wave of fleeing Rohingya could pick up again in November - the next sailing season - as people smugglers entice them to seek a better life.A version of this article appeared in the South China Morning Post of July 19.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Refugee Families work land to grow favorite plants
Generose Ntaconayi Gize pauses a moment from using her hoe to vigorously stab the ground around a plant with toothy leaves and little white blossoms.
She looks up at Jeff Ringger with a wide smile.
“My fries, here,” she says, going back to her hoeing. “My fries!”
Ringger smiles back. “French fries,” he says by way of explanation. “She makes the best french fries. Nothing like french fries at Generose’s house.”
The two are standing on a recent evening in the middle of three acres of planted sweet corn, beans, squash, tomatoes, peppers and – Generose’s favorite – potatoes. In the past, the fields along Tillman Road on Fort Wayne’s southeast side would be lush with soybeans about this time of year.
But this year, the ground is producing food for some of Fort Wayne’s refugee families – food grown by the refugees themselves.
Generose is a native of Africa. Near her, Henriette Kanawero and her husband, Milenge Mboboshi, from the Kinshasa region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who fled about nine years ago when their country dissolved in conflict, are watering tomatoes. Other nearby plots are tended by refugees from Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
The ground they are working is owned by the neighboring Fellowship Missionary Church, but it’s clear the refugees are bonding with their new land by tilling its soil, says Ringger, who coordinates the garden project. Fellowship’s is one of two Fort Wayne efforts to encourage refugees to garden. The other is next to the recently opened Refugee Resource Center, 2826 S. Calhoun St. It is part of the Food for the Fort Community agriculture program.
Ringger says Fellowship’s project began last year when a few African refugees tended a small plot. This year, church officials decided that instead of renting about five acres of its property to local farmers Rick and Dave Hartman, they would devote it to a larger garden for refugees.
The church has a number of African and Burmese families as members and has had programs helping Burmese refugees learn English, Ringger says.
The Hartmans agreed to mechanically till the ground for free and Ball Seed Co. donated some of the seed. Ken Hensch of Hensch Bros. Aesthetic Plants and Flowers in Fort Wayne agreed to start the seed in his company’s greenhouses.
Ringger helped arrange for water tanks to be brought to the site for irrigation, and church members donated used gardening tools and supplies.
Ringger says the refugees decided to grow many American staples – plus a few exotics from their homelands.
Mboboshi, 30, is hand-watering a favorite plant noted for its greens. He calls it linga-linga. Ringger says he’s heard it called pigweed by Americans, but he’s not sure of its proper name.
Asked how the Africans got the plant’s seeds, Mboboshi, who was a small-scale farmer in Congo, smiles.
“It grows here! You see it here a lot. But you don’t eat it,” he says, shaking his head in disbelief. “This is an expensive vegetable in our country.”
Linga-linga, he says, can be mixed with “anything. You can cook it with meat, or boil it with salt and oil and peppers or spices. You can mix it with anything.”
Ringger says he has heard that African refugees have been known to gather the plant from yards and roadsides because it’s considered such a delicacy.
The project’s Burmese gardeners, Ringger says, have their own favorites.
They like cucumbers, tomatoes and hot chiles for making curries. They grow some gourds for medicinal properties and to use in sacred ceremonies.
They also grow another plant, roselle, for its greens.
Refugee gardener Austin, 40, who like many Burmese refugees goes by only one name, says roselle is used in soup.
The plant is a member of the hibiscus family, and it is known as chin buang in Myanmar, according to information from Purdue University. The green is used as a spicy version of spinach. The plant also can be made into a tea and is believed to have medicinal properties.
At the refugee center’s garden, Chan Hmaine Aung, self-sufficiency coordinator, explains more about roselle, which is included in the majority of the 27 raised beds claimed by individual families.
“All the families love the roselle,” he says, explaining the leaf can be fried in oil with dried shrimp and onion and spice powder for a main dish.
At a nearby grocery that caters to the refugees, “They sell one pound for $3 and it is only for the summer. In the wintertime, (it is) one pound for $5,” he says. “Too expensive.”
Families also favor bok choy, kale, tomatoes, Asian eggplant and chiles, plus watercress, a grass-like green used in soup, says Aung, who helps the center’s gardening coordinator Ahr Yu.
Aung says area master gardeners and Ricky Kemery, horticulture educator with the Purdue Cooperative Extension on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, provided advice about fertilizer and pest control to help the refugee center’s garden succeed.
But growing favored vegetables hasn’t always been easy for the Burmese.
The climate in their homeland is tropical and rainy, and people who farm there are used to working in paddies, Aung says.
“Here, it is dry,” he says. “Water is a problem.”
Bok choy didn’t do well because the plants matured before they became big enough, he says.
He adds that Asian “white carrots” (actually a radish) the refugees tried couldn’t penetrate the heavy clay soil well enough, even in a raised bed. They grow to be more than a foot long in Burma, he says.
Still, the families are hoping they will be able to sell some of their crops, Aung says.
At Fellowship’s garden, Austin, originally from Yangon, says he’s pretty sure there will be enough corn to sell. Some of the fruits of the garden have been enjoyed by participating families already. About 80 people have helped with the garden.
“We picked 10 pounds of tomatoes this week,” Austin says. “They were ripe already. We share and eat them. Very good!”
rsalter@jg.net
Saturday, July 18, 2009
A Burmese family’s story of multiple arrests, weekly bribes
In June, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Report blacklisted Malaysia for trafficking refugees into Thailand.
Karen Zusman, an independent journalist, was one of few Westerners inside Myanmar in the immediate aftermath of the monk-led protests in 2007. She interviewed Burmese refugees and produced the audio documentary Please Don’t Say My Name: Burmese refugees at risk in Malaysia over the course of five months in Kuala Lumpur.
Karen Zusman (left) with a Burmese refugee. Photo courtesy of Karen Zusman.
I met Jack in Kuala Lumpur after the protests in 2007. Jack was imprisoned and tortured for teaching human rights in his country. When he was released from jail, he fled to Malaysia.
I learned that he and nearly 100,000 Burmese who had fled persecution were now held hostage in a country that offered no protection from vigilante groups, police and immigration officials. It was routine to hear refugee stories of mistreatment and physical and sexual abuse.
In January of this year, I returned to Kuala Lumpur, but things did not go as planned. I intended to document Jack’s story — his English was good, he was articulate, passionate and street smart. He was working in a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur with several other Burmese refugees.
Shortly after beginning to record, Jack’s Burmese girlfriend was arrested at the Thai-Malaysian border. She had fled Myanmar to be with Jack in Malaysia because her parents had engaged her to a Burmese soldier knowing the family would benefit greatly from the marriage. The girl was caught at the Thai-Malaysian border and imprisoned in Malaysia. Jack arranged for a friend, John, another Burmese refugee, to meet with the immigration officials at the border who were known to accept payment in exchange for releasing refugees. Malaysian officials took the money. And then arrested John.
Jack lost his girlfriend and his best friend in the same night.
Back in Myanmar, a Burmese soldier arrested Jack’s father, an elderly man with a heart condition, who now faced charges for “trafficking” the girl. Jack’s brother was arrested trying to leave Malaysia (also a refugee, he had a work permit but no travel documents).
I tried to console Jack the best I could. I tried — in vain — to get John released from prison by repeatedly reporting his arrest to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). John had been registered with the U.N. and so it was part of their task to release him from prison. But after he completed his sentence, he was subsequently transferred to detention camp.
While all this was happening, there were rumors that a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Report would soon be published bringing the Malaysian “deportation” (a.k.a. trafficking practices) under extreme scrutiny.
Jack and his friends were afraid that this would mean the trafficking would stop, and they would no longer have the option to purchase back their “freedom” should they be arrested. This was particularly distressing for Jack, who felt purchasing his girlfriend from traffickers once she was sold to them by Malaysian immigration was his only hope of saving her from a life as a Burmese junta-wife.
The report, which confirmed the allegations that the Malaysian government had been complicit in the sale of refugees to human traffickers at the Thai-Malaysian border, was made public in early April. Since then, as the refugees predicted, the incidents of trafficking have significantly decreased.
But because the raids by Rela (Malaysia’s citizen volunteer corps) and arrests have not decreased, the detention camps are severely over-crowded. Two Burmese refugees have died as a result of water contaminated with rat urine in a camp in Penang. John called while I was still in Malaysia and told me there were 47 people in one tiny cell with no water supply.
Jack’s brother called from a camp in another part of the country and told us that though the monsoon rains had begun, they were kept outside with no shelter and were given food to eat off of the mud floor.
Every week for five months, Jack wired money to each camp to pay for provisions such as toothpaste. Jack said the money was also for them to give money to their jailors so they would not be beaten. When Jack took time off from the restaurant to try and visit them, he was fired.
Now it’s July and Jack’s girlfriend has been deported to Myanmar. His friend was released last week and his brother is being hospitalized for a heart condition exacerbated by his time in the camp — he is still in the custody of his Malaysian jailors.
Source: World Focus
Friday, July 17, 2009
Mabuhay, Bem-vindo, Bienvenue, Welcome to Malaysia
Source : The Malaysian Insider
James Chin is a Malaysian academic. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the views of institutions he is associated with. He can be contacted at Jameschin1@gmail.com
JULY 16 — Our neighbours Thailand are reportedly unhappy with us because our government did not manage to arrest former Thai prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, who apparently spent a night in Kuala Lumpur on America’s Independence Day (July 4) at a very posh hotel in KLCC .
According to the Thai embassy, their diplomats here alerted our authorities but we did not do anything and Thaksin flew out on his private jet to Fiji. The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) says he knows nothing and that the Thai diplomats here did not inform him or the police until after the event. The IGP further claimed that the Thai report was untrue.
Thaksin, a man who knows how to play the media, had this to say about his Malaysian stopover: “My private jet stopped for refuelling in Malaysia and they sent 20 Special Branch policemen to guard me. They love and care about me.” So who is telling the truth? No candy for the answer but it’s so obvious, isn’t it?
Thaksin, unfortunately, will not be the last of the infamous who have, at one time or another, used Malaysia as a transit, home or unofficial asylum.
Before we discuss this issue, the official line is that Malaysia has never given political asylum to anyone, and has no plan to change that policy. Malaysia only gives “temporary shelter” on humanitarian grounds. You see, Malaysia does not want political asylum to be used as an excuse by groups which want to enter Malaysia for economic gain.
Moreover, giving refugees political asylum would saddle the government with unnecessary problems like providing them with jobs, homes and protection. On top of this, the Malaysian government does not recognise the identity card issued to refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Kuala Lumpur. And Malaysia is not a party to the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
So as you can see, at the official level, the thousands of Myanmar refugees in Malaysia do not officially exist since we don’t recognise the UNHCR cards. See how easy it is to exploit them? Isn’t this country great? We practice human rights, Malaysian style!
But all this does not mean that nasty people do not come to Malaysia. In fact they come here on a regular basis because they know the government will almost never hand them over. The only exceptions are terrorists but even then, there are different classes of terrorists. Some we even end up giving MyKads.
Shall we look at some of these people? The most famous one is of course Zimbabwe’s dictator Robert Mugabe. He has good relations with former PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and in fact his multi-million home in Harare has a piece of Malaysia — that is, some high quality timber worth a few hundred thousand ringgit was presented to this dictator as a “gift” from Malaysia.
Word has it that he comes to Malaysia often to take his holiday since he has been banned from all western countries. But we Malaysians are such hospitable people and we welcome him with open arms. He also owns a home here so maybe when the Zimbabwe people finally rise up against him, he can retire in comfort right here in Malaysia. Meanwhile his people starve and thousands die from cholera.
When Marcos was overthrown in the Philippines in the 1980s, one of his daughters moved to Malaysia, living openly in KL. In fact, I think they still own houses here and one of the younger Marcoses was a student here.
It did not matter that billions of dollars were stolen from the Philippines. But then again, the Filipinos are such forgiving people. Marcos’ son is now a congressman and wife Imelda is living it up in Manila. Until today, they have never been found guilty of corruption.
Our recent history also suggests that Filipinos are more than welcome. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was a well known fact that thousands of Moro separatists were living in Sabah while fighting Manila for an independent home state in the Mindanao region. Many of their descendents are now Malaysian “citizens” with blue MyKad.
How on earth did they get acquire one is subject of much debate. Many real Sabahans think some individuals in the highest level of the Malaysian government are involve in a project called “Project M”. Project M was to turn Sabah into a Muslim-majority state by “importing” Muslim Filipinos and Muslim Indonesians. It does not take a genius to know who the “M” refers to as the height of the project was in the 1980s. Today Sabah is a Muslim-majority state, so Malaysia Boleh!
The Moro “independent” fighters were not the only ones welcomed here. For years the Thais have accused the northern Malay states, in particular Kelantan, of being used as sanctuary for Thai Malay separatists. In fact a leading leader of the Pattani Liberation Movement was found to be a lecturer in the International Islamic University right here in Gombak, Kuala Lumpur. Of course he is now “missing” from IIU but we all know where he is.
For years the leaders of GAM or Free Aceh Movement operated quite openly in KL. GAM fought a guerrilla war against the Indonesian state for years until the tsunami. Several of them had Malaysian “red” IC or permanent residency. In fact one of its most senior leaders was assassinated here a few years ago. His killers were never found. Convenient, isn’t it? But don’t worry, most of them have packed up and gone home after the peace accords.
And before I forget, back in the early 1960s leaders of the Parti Rakyat Brunei found asylum in Miri and Limbang when their coup to get rid of the Brunei Sultan failed. Some of the leaders later moved to Indonesia.
During Suharto’s time, many of his opponents, especially Islamists who opposed him, also found sanctuary in Malaysia. Remember the mastermind of the Bali bombings? He operated a religious school in Johor. And he was not the only one. I am told some of them are still running around in Malaysia although they are keeping a low profile after the arrest of Mas Selamat.
In 2006, the Cambodia police chief (their version of the IGP) flew into Malaysia after he was accused of several murders in Cambodia, including several judges. He tried to apply for political asylum here, they laughed at him and he was quietly deported to a third country.
Just to round up, three of the hijackers in the 9/11 incident held one of their planning meetings in an apartment in Seri Kembangan. Maybe they liked the Mines Shopping Centre.
Today there are thousands of political refugees in Malaysia escaping from their homeland. Some are genuine, some are not. Some are using Malaysia as an R&R centre while planning really nasty stuff.
Like I said earlier, we welcome everyone to Malaysia. From African dictators to separatists, to Islamic terrorist. No wonder Malaysia is Truly Asia. Never mind that our official policy is to never grant political asylum. Like most government policies, what is on paper may be very different in real life.
Teenager's Death Highlights Plight of Rohingya
By Chutima Sidasathian and Alan Morison
Thursday, July 16, 2009
A TEENAGE Rohingya refugee has died in Thai custody, five months after he and dozens of fellow boat people were saved from abandonment at sea at the hands of the Thai Army.Thai authorities yesterday revealed that Aubdul Salam, 18, died in hospital in the Thai-Burma border town of Ranong on June 30, having been held since January 26 by Thai Immigration officials.It was a tragic final chapter to the short life of Salam, who arrived on Thai shores just days after the South China Morning Post revealed the Thai Army's secret policy of towing Rohingya boat people out to sea in unpowered boats.
Amid the ensuing international condemnation of the policy, which claimed hundreds of lives, Salam and his companions were instead transferred to civilian custody and processed via the Thai courts.At the time it was hailed as a human rights victory. But the fate of 77 of Salam's boatmates still in Thai custody remains in doubt. All have served short sentences for illegal entry into Thailand, but no other country has expressed willingness to take them.They are believed to have originated in Burma, where the Rohingya are subjected to systematic discrimination.Police Lieutenant Colonel Nattarit Pinpak, Chief Inspector of Immigration in Ranong, said Salam had been sick for some time and suffered cardiac arrest at 8pm on June 30.''We consulted local Muslims and the young man was buried with proper ceremony in Ranong's Muslim cemetery,'' he added.''We did not notify his relatives because we have no knowledge of his family.''Colonel Nattarit also revealed yesterday that 29 of the men were now claiming to be Bangladeshis and had been transferred to custody in Bangkok while their claims are investigated.A spokesperson at the Bangladeshi Embassy confirmed that the claims of the men were under scrutiny. At the time of their detention, none of the men claimed Bangladeshi citizenship.The embassy official said the youngest of the 29 was 14 years old, adding that it was possible that some were ethnic Rohingyas who had been born and raised in Bangladesh. ''They don't speak the language of Bangladesh,'' he said.The condition of the boat people who remain in custody remains unclear, because Thai authorities have refused to grant access to them.At the time of their arrival, however, they provided harrowing accounts of having been captured and tortured by the Burmese Army during their journey to Thailand, with some claiming to have been burned and beaten by the soldiers. Several required hospital treatment for their injuries after they reached Ranong.In an interview in May, Colonel Nattarit said the detained men were ''happy'' and being well looked after, and preferred being held in Thailand to being repatriated.The people smuggler who owned the boat is believed to be one of the detained men.Colonel Nattarit added that several of them spoke Thai, indicating that this was probably not their first attempt to start a new life in Malaysia or Thailand.''Ranong province is like a door for people from Myanmar as they move in and out, looking for work,'' Colonel Nattarit said.The fate of the Rohingya is likely to be raised by Indonesia at next week's Asean security forum for foreign ministers in Phuket, as they propose a human rights charter for Asean members.Indonesia has been sympathetic to the plight of their fellow Muslim Rohingyas, hundreds of whom washed ashore in Indonesia after being cast adrift by the Thai army.US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and representatives from 26 other nations, including China, Japan, Russia, Australia and the European Union, are due to attend the Asean meetings.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Editing Malaysia (section)
Editing Malaysia (section)
By World Refugees Survey
Malaysian immigration officials continued to sell deportees to gangs of traffickers operating along the Thailand-Malaysia border. The gangs paid from $250 to $500 per deportee. The traffickers demanded fees of 1,400 to 3,000 ringgit (about $400 to $860) to smuggle the deportees back into Malaysia. They typically sold those who could not pay (perhaps 20 percent), the men onto fishing boats, the women into brothels, and the children to gangs that exploit child beggars.
Malaysia made no changes to its laws or regulations dealing with refugees and asylum seekers during 2008, meaning that arbitrary arrest, detention, and deportation of refugees continued.
During the year, Malaysia deported at least 1,000 refugees and asylum seekers to Thailand, which has in the past returned deportees to Myanmar. It alleged these deportations were voluntary, but because the only alternative was continued detention in poor conditions, this is questionable.
At year’s end, Malaysia was holding roughly 400 asylum seekers registered with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), mostly Myanmarese, whom it accused of illegal stay or illegal entry in its detention facilities.
Conditions in detention centers remained abysmal, with overcrowding, poor sanitation, inadequate health care, and abuse all common. The Government did not allow the International Committee of the Red Cross access to the detention centers, but did allow UNHCR limited access to registered refugees and asylum seekers and gave access to staff the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM), the Government’s official human rights body, on a case-by-case basis. In December, SUHAKAM announced that 1,535 detainees had died in prisons, rehabilitation centers, and immigration detention between 2003 and 2007. Lack of medical attention was a major cause of death, and SUHAKAM proposed assigning a doctor and medical assistant to each detention center, providing facilities to transfer detainees to hospitals in emergencies, and improve medical monitoring of jails in police stations. During the year, the Government allowed local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to provide some health care to detainees. Officials caned at least 6 refugees (including a minor) for immigration violations during the year, down from 32 in 2007.
During the year, UNHCR registered 17,000 new asylum seekers and made refugee status determinations in 11,000 cases.
During the year, 14 refugees from southern Thailand returned voluntarily, with 106 of the group who fled to Malaysia in 2005 remaining in the Ajil detention center.
In January, officials arrested 10 Myanmarese for forging Thai and Myanmarese passports. They seized fake UNHCR cards, 150 fake passports, 19 fake foreign worker IDs, and 20,000 ringgit (about $5,750). Officials believed they sold passports for $1,000 to $2,000. Officials seized 46 passports from another forgery ring later in the month.
In March, the Prisons Department handed over 11 immigration centers to the Immigration Department. People’s Volunteer Corps (RELA) with its 480,000 volunteers became in charge of management of these centers.
Abuses by RELA continued during the year, with reports of rape, beatings, extortion, theft, and destroying UNHCR documents. RELA raided and burned to the ground the camp of 75 Chin refugees from Myanmar in January. They detained 23 of the refugees, and took everything of value in the camp, including cell phones, crafts made for sale, and money.
RELA arrested 200 Rohingya refugees (50 of them children) in a March raid that netted 500 undocumented immigrants.
On April 21, detainees at Lenggeng Immigration Detention Centre rioted, during which an administration building caught fire. Although Malaysian media reported the riot began when 60 Myanmarese detainees were rejected for resettlement to third countries, the incident actually began on April 20 when immigration officers beat nine detainees (six Myanmarese, two Indonesians, and one Pakistani) while interrogating them about a cigarette butt and tobacco found in the detention center. Immigration officers eventually returned the Myanmarese to their cells after they denied smoking, but continued to beat the other three detainees. When the Pakistani crawled out of the room where he was beaten foaming at the mouth, other detainees began to shout and throw objects from their cells in protest. Immigration officers took the Pakistani and two Indonesians away, and a senior RELA official arrived by 10 p.m. to urge the detainees to settle down. The next morning, many of the detainees refused breakfast and announced they were on a hunger strike. By noon, RELA and immigration officers usually on duty had withdrawn from the cellblocks, and some detainees broke out of one block and opened the others. Some detainees stayed in their cellblocks, but others rushed out and a fire soon broke out in an administrative office. Media reports said 100 police, 100 RELA members, and 40 immigration officers restored order.
RELA officials arrested 14 detainees (six Indonesians, three Myanmarese refugees registered with UNHCR, three Myanmarese asylum seekers, one Cambodian, and one documented Vietnamese migrant worker) for possession of dangerous weapons and creating mischief by fire or explosives. Two of the arrested reported being beaten and burned with cigarettes as they were driven away from the detention center. Authorities also transferred all Myanmarese detainees to other facilities, beating them on the way according to detainees. In the wake of the incident, Malaysia announced it would tighten border security to reduce crowding in detention centers.
In April, three Myanmarese refugees received 36-year jail sentences for their 2004 attempt to kill Myanmar’s ambassador to Malaysia and burn down its embassy. They had represented themselves after dismissing lawyers provided by the Legal Aid Bureau. In a separate case, a Myanmarese refugee plead guilty to culpable homicide not amounting to murder in the 2006 killling of a 17-year-old refugee in a detention center.
Unknown assailants stabbed and set fire to a Myanmarese refugee in April, killing him.
In May, RELA members arrested a foreign diplomat and held her for two hours, despite her presenting her diplomatic ID. They released her only upon the intervention of her embassy.
Malaysia returned two Chinese Muslims to China at the request of the Chinese government in June.
In June, the Government announced a crackdown on illegal immigrants in the Sabah state, home to more than 70,000 Filipino refugees. The crackdown aimed to deport some 200,000 irregular migrants, who were mainly Filipinos..
As of August, about 35,000 had been deported. By the end of the year, thousands more were deported.
Police arrested four Myanmarese for the murder of a Myanmarese refugee woman in July.
In August, the Government announced that the remaining 25,000 Acehnese holding IMM13 work permits would have to leave the country by January 2009 or be deported.
In August, RELA arrested over 11,000 people, only 500 of whom did not have legal immigration status.
In September, a court ordered a RELA member to pay 100,000 ringgit (about $28,800) to a woman whom he photographed while she was forced to relieve herself in the back of a truck taking her to a detention center.
In October, the Philippines announced that many deported Filipinos had been beaten by Malaysian police and detained in inhumane conditions.
Around 300 Rohingya refugees lost their jobs as car washers in October, after immigration officials threatened their employers with 5,000 ringgit (about $1,440) fines.
In November, Malaysia’s high court overturned migrant rights activist Irene Fernandez’s 2003 conviction for publishing allegedly false information. She had received a 12-month jail sentence for reporting on poor conditions in detention centers in 1995.
Malaysia made no changes to its laws or regulations dealing with refugees and asylum seekers during 2008, meaning that arbitrary arrest, detention, and deportation of refugees continued.
During the year, Malaysia deported at least 1,000 refugees and asylum seekers to Thailand, which has in the past returned deportees to Myanmar. It alleged these deportations were voluntary, but because the only alternative was continued detention in poor conditions, this is questionable.
At year’s end, Malaysia was holding roughly 400 asylum seekers registered with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), mostly Myanmarese, whom it accused of illegal stay or illegal entry in its detention facilities.
Conditions in detention centers remained abysmal, with overcrowding, poor sanitation, inadequate health care, and abuse all common. The Government did not allow the International Committee of the Red Cross access to the detention centers, but did allow UNHCR limited access to registered refugees and asylum seekers and gave access to staff the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM), the Government’s official human rights body, on a case-by-case basis. In December, SUHAKAM announced that 1,535 detainees had died in prisons, rehabilitation centers, and immigration detention between 2003 and 2007. Lack of medical attention was a major cause of death, and SUHAKAM proposed assigning a doctor and medical assistant to each detention center, providing facilities to transfer detainees to hospitals in emergencies, and improve medical monitoring of jails in police stations. During the year, the Government allowed local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to provide some health care to detainees. Officials caned at least 6 refugees (including a minor) for immigration violations during the year, down from 32 in 2007.
During the year, UNHCR registered 17,000 new asylum seekers and made refugee status determinations in 11,000 cases.
During the year, 14 refugees from southern Thailand returned voluntarily, with 106 of the group who fled to Malaysia in 2005 remaining in the Ajil detention center.
In January, officials arrested 10 Myanmarese for forging Thai and Myanmarese passports. They seized fake UNHCR cards, 150 fake passports, 19 fake foreign worker IDs, and 20,000 ringgit (about $5,750). Officials believed they sold passports for $1,000 to $2,000. Officials seized 46 passports from another forgery ring later in the month.
In March, the Prisons Department handed over 11 immigration centers to the Immigration Department. People’s Volunteer Corps (RELA) with its 480,000 volunteers became in charge of management of these centers.
Abuses by RELA continued during the year, with reports of rape, beatings, extortion, theft, and destroying UNHCR documents. RELA raided and burned to the ground the camp of 75 Chin refugees from Myanmar in January. They detained 23 of the refugees, and took everything of value in the camp, including cell phones, crafts made for sale, and money.
RELA arrested 200 Rohingya refugees (50 of them children) in a March raid that netted 500 undocumented immigrants.
On April 21, detainees at Lenggeng Immigration Detention Centre rioted, during which an administration building caught fire. Although Malaysian media reported the riot began when 60 Myanmarese detainees were rejected for resettlement to third countries, the incident actually began on April 20 when immigration officers beat nine detainees (six Myanmarese, two Indonesians, and one Pakistani) while interrogating them about a cigarette butt and tobacco found in the detention center. Immigration officers eventually returned the Myanmarese to their cells after they denied smoking, but continued to beat the other three detainees. When the Pakistani crawled out of the room where he was beaten foaming at the mouth, other detainees began to shout and throw objects from their cells in protest. Immigration officers took the Pakistani and two Indonesians away, and a senior RELA official arrived by 10 p.m. to urge the detainees to settle down. The next morning, many of the detainees refused breakfast and announced they were on a hunger strike. By noon, RELA and immigration officers usually on duty had withdrawn from the cellblocks, and some detainees broke out of one block and opened the others. Some detainees stayed in their cellblocks, but others rushed out and a fire soon broke out in an administrative office. Media reports said 100 police, 100 RELA members, and 40 immigration officers restored order.
RELA officials arrested 14 detainees (six Indonesians, three Myanmarese refugees registered with UNHCR, three Myanmarese asylum seekers, one Cambodian, and one documented Vietnamese migrant worker) for possession of dangerous weapons and creating mischief by fire or explosives. Two of the arrested reported being beaten and burned with cigarettes as they were driven away from the detention center. Authorities also transferred all Myanmarese detainees to other facilities, beating them on the way according to detainees. In the wake of the incident, Malaysia announced it would tighten border security to reduce crowding in detention centers.
In April, three Myanmarese refugees received 36-year jail sentences for their 2004 attempt to kill Myanmar’s ambassador to Malaysia and burn down its embassy. They had represented themselves after dismissing lawyers provided by the Legal Aid Bureau. In a separate case, a Myanmarese refugee plead guilty to culpable homicide not amounting to murder in the 2006 killling of a 17-year-old refugee in a detention center.
Unknown assailants stabbed and set fire to a Myanmarese refugee in April, killing him.
In May, RELA members arrested a foreign diplomat and held her for two hours, despite her presenting her diplomatic ID. They released her only upon the intervention of her embassy.
Malaysia returned two Chinese Muslims to China at the request of the Chinese government in June.
In June, the Government announced a crackdown on illegal immigrants in the Sabah state, home to more than 70,000 Filipino refugees. The crackdown aimed to deport some 200,000 irregular migrants, who were mainly Filipinos..
As of August, about 35,000 had been deported. By the end of the year, thousands more were deported.
Police arrested four Myanmarese for the murder of a Myanmarese refugee woman in July.
In August, the Government announced that the remaining 25,000 Acehnese holding IMM13 work permits would have to leave the country by January 2009 or be deported.
In August, RELA arrested over 11,000 people, only 500 of whom did not have legal immigration status.
In September, a court ordered a RELA member to pay 100,000 ringgit (about $28,800) to a woman whom he photographed while she was forced to relieve herself in the back of a truck taking her to a detention center.
In October, the Philippines announced that many deported Filipinos had been beaten by Malaysian police and detained in inhumane conditions.
Around 300 Rohingya refugees lost their jobs as car washers in October, after immigration officials threatened their employers with 5,000 ringgit (about $1,440) fines.
In November, Malaysia’s high court overturned migrant rights activist Irene Fernandez’s 2003 conviction for publishing allegedly false information. She had received a 12-month jail sentence for reporting on poor conditions in detention centers in 1995.
New life brings new freedom
Myanmar man flees oppression for American experience
By Craig S. Semon TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
‘Impeach Bush.”Ni Cung Lian was amazed when he saw the aforementioned bumper sticker on the back of a car, not because he's pro- or anti-George Bush, nor does he think it's time to chip away at an adhesive, Bush-bashing slogan to put a more contemporary one in its place.
It is because if people were parading around with the equivalent sentiment on their cars (that is, if they even had cars) where Mr. Lian is from, they could easily find themselves in prison for the rest of their lives. Mr. Lian, who goes by the nickname “Alian,” was born and raised in Chin State, in western Union of Myanmar (formerly Burma). A mountainous region with few transportation links, Chin State is sparsely populated and remains one of the least developed areas of the country. Mr. Lian, who never touched a computer in Myanmar, has been living with Rocco Marino and Sheila Botti of Sturbridge since September. The 19-year-old, who likes American action movies and will be a senior at St. John's High School in Shrewsbury in the fall, said “everything is totally different” in the United States compared to his native land. “You would not talk about the abuse of human rights in Burma and the bad things about the government,” Mr. Lian said. “If you talk about that, and they know, they can arrest you.” The military has dominated government in Myanmar since Gen. Ne Win led a coup in 1962 that toppled the civilian government of U Nu. Myanmar remains under the tight control of the military-led State Peace and Development Council. Human rights in Myanmar have been a long-standing concern for the international community and human rights organizations. There is general consensus that the military regime in Burma is one of the world's most repressive and abusive regimes. “It is military government. It is not good like here (in the United States),” Mr. Lian said. “In our country, the military government forces people to do hard labor and forces people to carry their stuff.” From the age of 10, Mr. Lian was regularly sentenced to do hard labor twice a week. The military would instruct teachers to force students (including Mr. Lian) to complete hard labor — including a trek of several miles to plant trees and clear brush in the middle of the forest — as part of their regular school schedule. “If you didn't do it, they would ask for money,” Mr. Lian said. “If you don't do it in school, they are going to beat you.” While Mr. Lian escaped the savage beatings, he did see some of his fellow students get physically abused at the hands of teachers. In addition, Mr. Lian, whose father died when he was 3, had to represent his family for hard labor and was forced to carry a heavy load of military gear for miles, from one mountainous location to another. “I am lucky,” Mr. Lian said. “One time I had to carry seven miles (one way) and the other nine miles,” while others in his village had to carry a load 20 miles. The military government would regularly force villagers, including Mr. Lian, to do night patrol for signs of the Chin Nation Army, revolutionaries who oppose the State Peace and Development Council, Mr. Lian said. Because they are Chin people in opposition of the oppressive Burma government, Mr. Lian and his fellow villagers would never turn them in if they spotted them. “We like the CNA. We know that they are Chin people,” Mr. Lian said. “We will not inform them (the government) but we have to do it because they force us to do patrol.” In Myanmar, Mr. Lian, his younger sister and mother lived in a house that they did not own. The house's owner has a daughter who lives in Yangon, the largest city and a former capital of Myanmar. Mr. Lian went to Yangon to see the owner's daughter, who helped him get safe passage out of the country on a boat to Malaysia. From there, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees helped Mr. Lian eventually get to the United States. “In our village, the Chins always love each other, and we would always help each other if someone had difficulty,” Mr. Lian said. Mr. Lian arrived in the United States in April 2008. Before settling with the Marino family in Sturbridge, he lived in Webster. Although he finds people in the United States to be “nice and polite,” Mr. Lian admits that he was nervous about how they were going to treat him. “At first, I was afraid (coming to the U.S.),” Mr. Lian confessed. “I thought that they might not like me and they would avoid me so I would feel lonely, but that's not the case.” Once a month, Mr. Lian calls Myanmar and talks to his mother and sister, who share one of three phones, one running faucet and one television with 30 other families in their village. When asked if he had any plans to bring his family to the United States, Mr. Lian looked puzzled and with a laugh asked, “How are you going to bring them here?” Mr. Lian hopes to return to Myanmar some day but acknowledges that he's afraid the government might put him in prison. While he believes democracy is the way to go for his people, Mr. Lian confesses that he doesn't expect the Myanmar government to change anytime soon, nor does he believe the United States is doing enough to help the Myanmar people. “If the government changes, I would go back to Burma,” Mr. Lian said.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
A Burmese family’s story of multiple arrests, weekly bribes
A Burmese family’s story of multiple arrests, weekly bribes
Malaysia refuses to recognize Burmese as refugees
Burmese refugees rounded up and sold in Malaysia
Malaysian immigration officials implicated in human trafficking
Opposition leader arrested in Myanmar over U.S. intruder
Pascal and Vestine are alive in Congo, but still not home
Life in a fishing village behind Myanmar’s walls
Six months later, Myanmar recovering from cyclone
What is statelessness?
Kosovo refugees left lives behind at the border
Pakistani military takes the fight to South Waziristan
In June, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Report blacklisted Malaysia for trafficking refugees into Thailand.
Karen Zusman, an independent journalist, was one of few Westerners inside Myanmar in the immediate aftermath of the monk-led protests in 2007. She interviewed Burmese refugees and produced the audio documentary Please Don’t Say My Name: Burmese refugees at risk in Malaysia over the course of five months in Kuala Lumpur.
I met Jack in Kuala Lumpur after the protests in 2007. Jack was imprisoned and tortured for teaching human rights in his country. When he was released from jail, he fled to Malaysia.
I learned that he and nearly 100,000 Burmese who had fled persecution were now held hostage in a country that offered no protection from vigilante groups, police and immigration officials. It was routine to hear refugee stories of mistreatment and physical and sexual abuse.
In January of this year, I returned to Kuala Lumpur, but things did not go as planned. I intended to document Jack’s story — his English was good, he was articulate, passionate and street smart. He was working in a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur with several other Burmese refugees.
Shortly after beginning to record, Jack’s Burmese girlfriend was arrested at the Thai-Malaysian border. She had fled Myanmar to be with Jack in Malaysia because her parents had engaged her to a Burmese soldier knowing the family would benefit greatly from the marriage. The girl was caught at the Thai-Malaysian border and imprisoned in Malaysia. Jack arranged for a friend, John, another Burmese refugee, to meet with the immigration officials at the border who were known to accept payment in exchange for releasing refugees. Malaysian officials took the money. And then arrested John.
Jack lost his girlfriend and his best friend in the same night.
Back in Myanmar, a Burmese soldier arrested Jack’s father, an elderly man with a heart condition, who now faced charges for “trafficking” the girl. Jack’s brother was arrested trying to leave Malaysia (also a refugee, he had a work permit but no travel documents).
I tried to console Jack the best I could. I tried — in vain — to get John released from prison by repeatedly reporting his arrest to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). John had been registered with the U.N. and so it was part of their task to release him from prison. But after he completed his sentence, he was subsequently transferred to detention camp.
While all this was happening, there were rumors that a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Report would soon be published bringing the Malaysian “deportation” (a.k.a. trafficking practices) under extreme scrutiny.
Jack and his friends were afraid that this would mean the trafficking would stop, and they would no longer have the option to purchase back their “freedom” should they be arrested. This was particularly distressing for Jack, who felt purchasing his girlfriend from traffickers once she was sold to them by Malaysian immigration was his only hope of saving her from a life as a Burmese junta-wife.
The report, which confirmed the allegations that the Malaysian government had been complicit in the sale of refugees to human traffickers at the Thai-Malaysian border, was made public in early April. Since then, as the refugees predicted, the incidents of trafficking have significantly decreased.
But because the raids by Rela (Malaysia’s citizen volunteer corps) and arrests have not decreased, the detention camps are severely over-crowded. Two Burmese refugees have died as a result of water contaminated with rat urine in a camp in Penang. John called while I was still in Malaysia and told me there were 47 people in one tiny cell with no water supply.
Jack’s brother called from a camp in another part of the country and told us that though the monsoon rains had begun, they were kept outside with no shelter and were given food to eat off of the mud floor.
Every week for five months, Jack wired money to each camp to pay for provisions such as toothpaste. Jack said the money was also for them to give money to their jailors so they would not be beaten. When Jack took time off from the restaurant to try and visit them, he was fired.
Now it’s July and Jack’s girlfriend has been deported to Myanmar. His friend was released last week and his brother is being hospitalized for a heart condition exacerbated by his time in the camp — he is still in the custody of his Malaysian jailors.
Karen Zusman, an independent journalist, was one of few Westerners inside Myanmar in the immediate aftermath of the monk-led protests in 2007. She interviewed Burmese refugees and produced the audio documentary Please Don’t Say My Name: Burmese refugees at risk in Malaysia over the course of five months in Kuala Lumpur.
I met Jack in Kuala Lumpur after the protests in 2007. Jack was imprisoned and tortured for teaching human rights in his country. When he was released from jail, he fled to Malaysia.
I learned that he and nearly 100,000 Burmese who had fled persecution were now held hostage in a country that offered no protection from vigilante groups, police and immigration officials. It was routine to hear refugee stories of mistreatment and physical and sexual abuse.
In January of this year, I returned to Kuala Lumpur, but things did not go as planned. I intended to document Jack’s story — his English was good, he was articulate, passionate and street smart. He was working in a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur with several other Burmese refugees.
Shortly after beginning to record, Jack’s Burmese girlfriend was arrested at the Thai-Malaysian border. She had fled Myanmar to be with Jack in Malaysia because her parents had engaged her to a Burmese soldier knowing the family would benefit greatly from the marriage. The girl was caught at the Thai-Malaysian border and imprisoned in Malaysia. Jack arranged for a friend, John, another Burmese refugee, to meet with the immigration officials at the border who were known to accept payment in exchange for releasing refugees. Malaysian officials took the money. And then arrested John.
Jack lost his girlfriend and his best friend in the same night.
Back in Myanmar, a Burmese soldier arrested Jack’s father, an elderly man with a heart condition, who now faced charges for “trafficking” the girl. Jack’s brother was arrested trying to leave Malaysia (also a refugee, he had a work permit but no travel documents).
I tried to console Jack the best I could. I tried — in vain — to get John released from prison by repeatedly reporting his arrest to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). John had been registered with the U.N. and so it was part of their task to release him from prison. But after he completed his sentence, he was subsequently transferred to detention camp.
While all this was happening, there were rumors that a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Report would soon be published bringing the Malaysian “deportation” (a.k.a. trafficking practices) under extreme scrutiny.
Jack and his friends were afraid that this would mean the trafficking would stop, and they would no longer have the option to purchase back their “freedom” should they be arrested. This was particularly distressing for Jack, who felt purchasing his girlfriend from traffickers once she was sold to them by Malaysian immigration was his only hope of saving her from a life as a Burmese junta-wife.
The report, which confirmed the allegations that the Malaysian government had been complicit in the sale of refugees to human traffickers at the Thai-Malaysian border, was made public in early April. Since then, as the refugees predicted, the incidents of trafficking have significantly decreased.
But because the raids by Rela (Malaysia’s citizen volunteer corps) and arrests have not decreased, the detention camps are severely over-crowded. Two Burmese refugees have died as a result of water contaminated with rat urine in a camp in Penang. John called while I was still in Malaysia and told me there were 47 people in one tiny cell with no water supply.
Jack’s brother called from a camp in another part of the country and told us that though the monsoon rains had begun, they were kept outside with no shelter and were given food to eat off of the mud floor.
Every week for five months, Jack wired money to each camp to pay for provisions such as toothpaste. Jack said the money was also for them to give money to their jailors so they would not be beaten. When Jack took time off from the restaurant to try and visit them, he was fired.
Now it’s July and Jack’s girlfriend has been deported to Myanmar. His friend was released last week and his brother is being hospitalized for a heart condition exacerbated by his time in the camp — he is still in the custody of his Malaysian jailors.
Link :
200 UNHCR recognized Rohingya Refugees Arrested by Rela.
A Rela raid started this morning – 22th March 2008 in Ampang Area, Malaysia where most of Rohingya refugees live. The early morning raid took place in Desa Pandan at 4:00 am, Tasik Permai at 6:00am, Ampang Campuran at 10:30 am, Taman Muda and Sri Rayu at 12:00 pm. Estimated over 500 migrants were arrested including 200 UNHCR recognized Rohingya refugees involving some children. Those children are presently attending UNHCR basic education program.
During the raid, Rela physically abused some refugees by beating and kicking those who try to run, who do not stop, who do not come forward, who did not open their door immediately and those showing their UNHCR card.
Most of them were sent to Semenyih detention camp, Lenggeng detention camp and KLIA Immigration depo.
Due to the raid, most of refugees moved into the nearest jungles and bushes. Some of them are still living in the jungle for fear of arrest since Rela and Immigration did not recognized the UNHCR card.
Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organization (MERHROM) condemns the raid and request the Malaysian government to release them and allow refugees to stay temporarily while waiting for the Resettlement to the third country.
Burmese Detainees in Danger
By SAW YAN NAING
Saturday, July 11, 2009 ,
The relocation of Burmese refugees in Malaysia could lead to worse human rights abuses as they would be isolated from outside world, rights advocacy groups in Malaysia said.
According to the rights groups, the Malaysia immigration authorities moved 598 Burmese refugees including women and children who were detained at Semenyih Immigration camp near Malaysia’s Kajang Township on Friday.
The move was likely due to the Malaysia authorities wanting to isolate the refugees from the outside world, while other sources said it was due to the riot between Burmese refugees and Malaysia camp authorities on July 1.
The riot broke out after camp authorities beat 30 detainees who were refusing to board a truck that was to take them to another camp. Eight Burmese detainees were wounded in the riot.
Aung Naing Thu, general secretary of the Malaysia-based rights advocacy group known as the Burma Youth of Nationalists Association said, “Now the Burmese refugees have been relocated to other places, they will be isolated, and the authorities will be able to do whatever the want, even torture them.”
Forty-eight out of more then 600 Burmese refugees who were detained in Semenyih detention camp were released on Monday, but 598 of them remained. Many of the remaining refugees are undocumented, said rights groups.
The released detainees said there had been many human rights abuses while they were in the camp. Months-old children and women and pregnant women were the most vulnerable, as the meals distributed in the detention camp lack nutrition, they said.
Thant Zin, a Burmese refugee who was released on Monday, said that only ten sick people are allowed to receive medical treatment per week.
“Many people who feel sick in the camp go without medical treatment. They are not allowed to see doctors,” said Thant Zin.
“The drinking water and the water used in the toilet come from the same source,” he added.
“If they find communication materials such as mobile phones, they brutally beat you,” said Thant Zin.
Immigration authorities regularly beat the detained Burmese refugees during inspections. Last week, two Burmese detainees were seriously beaten when they went to the clinic to ask for medicine.
One detainee was beaten around the eyes till they filled with blood and he became unable to see. The other detainee suffered from cigarette burns on his body and was said to be in serious condition.
A delegation from the United Nations High Commissioners for Refugees in Malaysia is now investigating the riot, according to Yante Ismail, a spokesperson for the UNHCR, in Kuala Lumpur.
There are 22 detention camps in Malaysia, some of which are located in isolated areas on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. Some refugees have spent years in the detention camps.
About 500,000 Burmese migrants work in Malaysia, legally and illegally, according to the Kuala Lumpur-based Burma Workers’ Rights Protection Committee.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)