3,000 illegals take up amnesty deal

The Star

PUTRAJAYA: More than 3,000 illegal foreign workers have taken up the amnesty deal under the “voluntary deportation programme” since July 21.

The number is expected to reach 30,000 by year-end, Immigration Department deputy director-general Datuk Sakib Kusmi said.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had announced last week that 200,000 Indonesian illegal workers could have a safe one-way trip home for Hari Raya by paying a minimum RM300 compound fine.

He said the offer was open from July 18 to Dec 31 to protect them from syndicates who charged them up to RM2,000.

Before the amnesty deal, each illegal worker caught for overstaying had to pay a maximum compound fine of RM2,000.

Sakib said a total of 15,109 illegal foreign workers had also surrendered to the department in the first half of the year.

They included 2,028 from Sri Lanka, 1,959 from Nepal, 1,858 from India, 1,629 from Philippines, 1,606 from Indonesia, 1,016 from Myanmar, 1,009 from Pakistan, 952 from Bangladesh and 948 from Vietnam.

He said the department would review the effectiveness of the programme over three months.

Sakib said those who surrendered would undergo biometric processing to ensure that they did not return to Malaysia using another identity.

The amnesty deal is another initiative of the Government to weed out illegal immigrants following the 6P Bersepadu programme conducted from October 2011 to January this year.

President Obama Must Address Malaysia’s Human Rights Record

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – On the eve of President Obama’s visit to Malaysia, Amnesty International USA urges him to publicly address the deteriorating human rights situation in the country.

The President must send a clear message to the Malaysian authorities that increasing restrictions on free speech and ongoing human rights violations by the police are unacceptable and incompatible with the country’s human rights obligations.

“President Obama’s visit to Malaysia – the first of a U.S. President in almost 50 years – offers a crucial opportunity to push the authorities on much needed human rights reforms,” said T. Kumar, Director of International Advocacy, Amnesty International USA.

A series of recent developments demonstrate the increasingly restrictive space in which civil society, human rights defenders and opposition politicians can operate in Malaysia.

In March this year, a court in Malaysia overturned the acquittal of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on politically motivated “sodomy” charges. The authorities have consistently harassed him for years, in a blatant attempt to silence one of the opposition’s most important voices.

In another case, human rights defender Lena Hendry is facing politically motivated charges as a result of her legitimate work. She was arrested on July 3, 2013 and subsequently charged under the Film Censorship Act 2002 for screening a documentary about alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka.

In January 2014, the government declared illegal the civil society grouping COMANGO – a coalition of Malaysian non-governmental organizations formed to raise human rights concerns at the United Nations.

“Human rights in Malaysia are increasingly coming under attack, and President Obama must speak out on behalf of all those whose voices are being silenced by the Malaysian authorities,” continued Kumar.

President Obama should demand the repeal or else amendment of the range of laws used by the Malaysian authorities to arrest and imprison activists and human rights defenders and to curtail free speech. These include the notorious Sedition Act, the Official Secrets Act, the Printing Press and Publications Act and the Peaceful Assembly Act.

Amnesty International USA also urges President Obama to highlight continuing human rights violations committed by the Malaysian police. There are ongoing reports of torture, other ill-treatment and deaths in police custody, fatal shootings and excessive use of force and firearms. Many such allegations are not adequately investigated and suspected perpetrators are rarely held to account, creating a climate of impunity which perpetuates further violations.

“President Obama should tell Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak that enough is enough – Malaysia’s human rights record must improve,” said Kumar.

Amnesty International

Stop the amnesty programmes, urges groups

Amnesty International: Release or charge Bersih activists

The Malaysian Insider
by Melissa Chi

KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 — Human rights group Amnesty International today demanded the government either immediately released Bersih 2.0 activists or charged them in court, instead of using detention without trial laws.

Police have detained six Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) members under the Emergency Ordinance since last Saturday for investigations that they were “waging a war against the Agong” as they were found with T-shirts that had pictures of former communist leaders.

“Immediately release all activists or charge them with a recognisable criminal offence, drop unfounded charges, and respect the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” Amnesty International said.

The international non-governmental organisation (NGO) pointed out that Malaysian authorities were arbitrarily arresting and detaining scores of peaceful electoral reform protesters in the “worst repression of free speech and freedom of assembly” in recent years.

Since June 24, more than 100 activists have been arrested or questioned by police over their support of an electoral reform rally.

The demonstration is being planned for July 9 by the Coalition for Fair and Free Elections, also known as Bersih 2.0, meaning “Clean”.

“The Malaysian authorities are muzzling calls for electoral reform by throwing peaceful protestors in jail,” said Donna Guest, deputy Asia-Pacific director at Amnesty International. “We have not seen such a crackdown on political activists across Malaysia in many years.”

People have been arrested for as little as wearing yellow, which is the colour of Bersih 2.0, are being held without charge, and face investigation for sedition and unlawful assembly.

The government had also threatened to invoke the Internal Security Act over the rally, allowing for indefinite detention without trial.

“Malaysia is undermining its claim to be a moderate democracy through this campaign of repression,” Guest said.

On June 29, police raided the office of the Bersih 2.0 secretariat without a warrant, briefly detaining seven people and confiscating laptops, cameras and rally materials. 

The chair of the Bersih 2.0 organising committee, prominent lawyer Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, and Malaysian poet laureate A. Samad Said are both being investigated by police under the Sedition Act and Police Act for organising an “unlawful assembly”.

“This repression is clearly politically motivated to intimidate people from marching for electoral reform,” Guest said. “The use of repressive laws to criminalise peaceful political activism is appalling.”

Bersih 2.0 plans to hold the July 9 rally to demand a set of electoral reforms. These include fair access of all political parties to the media, reform of postal ballots and revisions of the electoral roll to address irregularities.

Malaysia: Government Reveals Nearly 30,000 Foreigners Caned

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE

Malaysia should immediately halt the judicial caning of refugees and migrants, Amnesty International said after the government disclosed that almost 30,000 foreigners had been caned in five years.

In a response to a parliamentary question on 9 March, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein disclosed that Malaysia had caned 29,759 foreigners between 2005 and 2010 for immigration offences alone.

“The government’s figures confirm that Malaysia is subjecting thousands of people to torture and other ill-treatment each year,” said Sam Zarifi, Asia Pacific director at Amnesty International. “This is a practice which is absolutely prohibited under international law, no matter what the circumstances.”

“As a first step, the Malaysian government has to immediately declare a moratorium on this brutal practice.”

Amnesty International also called for a complete abolition of all forms or corporal punishment, which constitutes torture or other ill-treatment.

In December 2010, Amnesty International published an in-depth investigation into judicial caning in Malaysia. In each of the 57 cases it examined, Amnesty International found that the caning amounted to torture, as the authorities had intentionally inflicted severe pain and suffering through the punishment of caning.

While most countries have abolished judicial caning, Malaysia has expanded the practice. Parliament has increased the number of offenses subject to caning to more than 60.

Since 2002, when Parliament amended the Immigration Act 1959/63 to make immigration violations such as illegal entry subject to caning, tens of thousands of refugees and migrant workers have been caned.

At least 60 per cent of the 29,759 foreigners caned were Indonesians, according to Liew Chin Tong, the parliamentarian who submitted the question. In March 2010, Amnesty International documented how unchecked abuses by unscrupulous labour agents led to many migrant workers losing their legal immigration status and thus being subject to caning.

Refugees are also caned for immigration violations in Malaysia. Since Malaysia has not yet ratified the UN Refugee Convention, asylum seekers are often arrested and prosecuted as illegal migrants. Burmese refugees in Malaysia have told Amnesty International how they live in fear after being caned.

“Malaysia is subjecting thousands of people from other Asian countries to torture and other ill-treatment,” said Sam Zarifi. “Indonesia, which chairs the Association of South East Asian Nations and its human rights Commission this year, must press Malaysia to stop caning their citizens.”

For more information: In London, Lance Lattig (+44-7735-381672)