Plight of 300 children born to undocumented Nepali women migrants in Malaysia(Himalayan News Service)

Children of women migrants suffer

   

Are stuck in destination countries due to lack of travel documents

Added At:  2014-02-16 9:12 PM

Last Updated At: 2014-02-16 9:12 PM

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: More than 300 children born to undocumented Nepali women migrants in Malaysia are currently languishing in the Southeast Asian country due to lack of legal clarity on whether or not they should be issued documents to travel to Nepal with their mothers.

According to the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT), there are around 300-400 such children in Malaysia waiting for a legal passage to Nepal.

The problem arises when the migrant woman worker gets pregnant because the company for which she works does not allow her to work there and also refuses to allow her to stay at the company hostel.

In most cases related to pregnancy, it has been noticed that women who are pregnant run away from the company and this makes her status illegal in the destination. Her problem further worsens if the father of the child is not a Nepali.

“If the husband is not a Nepali national then the Nepali embassy cannot issue travel documents to the child because the issue of citizenship of the husband complicates matters,” said executive director at the Institute of Foreign Affairs who is also former ambassador to Malaysia Dr Rishi Raj Adhikari.

Adhikari also pointed out that if both the mother and father of the child are Nepalis then travel documents can be issued but they have to produce a birth certificate of the child.

Regarding this, coordinator of GEFONT Support Group, Malaysia (Nepali Migrant Workers’ Association) Bed Kumar Khatiwada said: “Most women do not deliver their child in a hospital because her status at this point is illegal as she had run away from the company after being pregnant. Hence, she is unable to submit a birth certificate of the child in the embassy due to which the entire problem starts.”

Considering the intensity of the matter, member of foreign department (Migration Desk) GEFONT advocate Nisha Baniya opined that the state needs to address this case because a large number of its public (women migrant workers with their children) in many other destination countries including Malaysia are making rounds at the Nepali embassy seeking help. - Himalayan News Service, 16/2/2014.Children of women migrants suffer

Cambodian investigative committee has found widespread exploitation and rights violations of Cambodian migrant workers in Malaysia

A Cambodian investigative committee has found widespread exploitation and rights violations of Cambodian migrant workers in Malaysia.

Chou Bun Eng, secretary of state for the Ministry of Interior, who headed the delegation, said the inquiry found four types of violations. “There are victims of sexual exploitation, human trafficking, overwork and no salary, and forced labor,” she said. 

 

The problem in Malaysia is that the LAW and the GOVERNMENT  are not interested in protecting migrant worker rights. When the migrant worker complaints and claims rights, many employer wrongly just terminate them - which is also what happens to local workers, but when it comes to a migrant worker, their employment pass/permit is also caused by the employer to be cancelled hence removing the ability of the migrant worker to remain (and work naturally) legally while his complaint is processed(by the Labour Department[now known as the Human Resource Department] or the Industrial Relations Department or some other). Now in all these avenues and process of justice, the presence of the complainant migrant worker is needed - If the migrant worker is not present, then the process stops...then the Labour or Industrial Court cases stops... 

Likewise with crime, how can the police continue with the investigation...how can they prosecute when the victim (and even material witnesses) who are migrants are no more in Malaysia.

Malaysian Immigration Department and the Malaysian Government must ensure that no migrants ability to stay and work legally is extinguished if there is a pending claim, investigation, court proceedings, etc... Malaysia must change its attitude of using migrants just for labour - BUT disinterested in protecting their rights and welfare effectively. Malaysian government propagates this culture of exploiting migrant workers...when what is needed is DETERENCE that will ensure that NO EMPLOYER EXPLOITS WORKERS.  Sadly, the treatment of local workers is similar - Employers found guilty of not paying wages, for example, is ordered to pay the aggrieved worker JUST what should have been paid - SURELY, this is not right - and certainly is no real penalty - and would only encourage employers to go on cheating workers - for after all, if caught, all they need to pay is what they cheated the worker off in the first place. Rightfully, the law should require them to pay DOUBLE or maybe even TRIPLE plus maybe a sum for all the pain and suffering caused...

Southeast Asia

Inquiry Finds Abuse of Migrants in Malaysia

Gelia, a maid works in a condominium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Wednesday, June 17, 2009. At least two women have died in the custody of recruitment firms prior to scheduled departures for Malaysia.

Theara Khoun, VOA Khmer

 

08 January 2013 

PHNOM PENH - A Cambodian investigative committee has found widespread exploitation and rights violations of Cambodian migrant workers in Malaysia.

The 22-member committee, which included government representatives, rights workers and other agencies, spent two days in Malaysia and found workers vulnerable to overwork, forced labor and sexual exploitation, among other dangers, as more and more Cambodians seek work abroad through negligent recruitment agencies.

Chou Bun Eng, secretary of state for the Ministry of Interior, who headed the delegation, said the inquiry found four types of violations. “There are victims of sexual exploitation, human trafficking, overwork and no salary, and forced labor,” she said.

The committee’s findings are consistent with those of other rights groups that have investigated the working conditions in Malaysia, where many Cambodian women from rural areas find work as maids.

“Some laborers have been tortured and abused by the house owners,” said Samleang Seyla, country director of Action for the Children. “For some others, their employers don’t pay their salaries.”

And there is little legal recourse for Cambodian workers in Malaysia if they aren’t paid or are abused, he said. “Some complain about the difficulty finding legal aid. In their view, they are unlikely to win a case, because they don’t have money; and second, it requires a lot of time. That’s why some of them come back to Cambodia without proper legal resolutions.”

Underage girls are also being sent to Malaysia to work, the committee found. At a rescue center in Malaysia, where 13 Cambodians were staying, the committee found a 17-year-old girl who had been working in Malaysia for two years—with no salary.

On the two-day visit, the delegation met with representatives of the Malaysian government, an employers association, the Cambodian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and with NGOs.

Cambodia issued a moratorium on the recruitment of workers for Malaysia in 2011, following widespread reports of abuse, including the deaths of some workers. Human Rights Watch said in a November report that prior to the ban, girls as young as 13 were being sent to Malaysia through recruitment agencies.

An Bunhak, chairman of the Association of Cambodian Recruitment Agencies, who joined the delegation, said a lack of training and poor communication lead to misunderstandings between employers and workers. “For example, when they are asked to bring a bowl, they bring a urine pot,” he said. “This in turn makes their bosses angry, leading to violence.” 

Cases where underage girls are sent to Malaysia are rare, he said, and in those cases the companies responsible for recruiting them have been shut down.

An estimated 50,000 Cambodian workers, legal and illegal, are thought to be working in Malaysian households, factories and restaurants, earning between $135 and $200 per month.

In Malaysia, the committee interviewed Om Bopha, a senior adviser to the Cambodian Embassy in Malaysia, who said the Ministry of Labor is not properly monitoring the workers who are sent to Malaysia and that some Cambodian recruitment agencies send young workers or untrained workers, with little monitoring.

Chou Bun Eng said there is little follow-up on the transfer of workers, who are moved from a recruitment company in Cambodia to a receiving company in Malaysia and on to a local employer.

“In such hand-to-hand transfer, to what extent is there responsibility?” she asked.- VOA [Voice of America Khemer Southeast Asia News, 20/1/2013, Inquiry Finds Abuse of Migrants in Malaysia

Who funded the 6P programme? - Private Funding Initiative (PFI)? So who funded, and why?

Malaysian government in Parliament said that they did not spend money on the 6P programme -  and that it was a Private Funding Initiative (PFI) - so the question is where did the funding come for the national registration exercise of documented and undocumented migrants in Malaysia?

PEMBERITAHUAN PERTANYAAN DEWAN RAKYAT
PERTANYAAN       :         LISAN
DARIPADA            :        YB PUAN TERESA KOK SUH SIM (SEPUTEH)
TARIKH                :         3 APRIL 2012

SOALAN :
YB. PUAN TERESA KOK SUH SIM (SEPUTEH) minta MENTERI DALAM NEGERI menyatakan jumlah perbelanjaaan dan jumlah pendapatan yang terlibat dalam projek 6P pada tahun 2011. Apakah langkah yang akan diambil oleh Kementerian untuk mengatasi masalah kekurangan pekerja dalam industri perkhidmatan dan pembuatan di Malaysia.

JAWAPAN :
Terima kasih saya ucapan kepada Ahli Yang Berhormat Seputeh yang mengemukakan pertanyaan.
Untuk makluman Ahli Yang Berhormat, Program 6P dilaksanakan dengan tujuan untuk mewujudkan satu pangkalan data dan rekod biometric warga asing di Negara ini.

Program 6P dilaksanakan melalui kaedah Private Funding Initiative (PFI), oleh itu Kerajaan tidak menanggung kos operasi badi perlaksanaan program tersebut.

Di antara impak positif perlaksanaan Program 6P adalah seperti berikut:

1. berupaya mengumpul data berhubung jumlah PATI yang berada di dalam Negara;
2. membantu memantapkan pemantauan dan penguatkuasaan terhadap wangsa asing melalui pengambilan data biometric, sekali gus meningkatkan kawalan keselamatan negara;
3. membantu menangani isu pemalsuan identity dan dokumen perjalanan melalui pendaftran data biometric cap jari yang tidak boleh dipalsukan;
4. memenuhi segera keperluan pekerja asing sector-sektor ekonomi melalui process pemutihan PATI tanpa perlu membawa masuk pekerja asing baru; dan
5. menangani isu ketirisan dalam pengutipan levi pekerja asing dan sekali gus meningkatkan hasil pendapatan Negara.

Program 6P adalah sebahagian daripada usaha penting dalan agenda Kerajaan untuk memantapkan pengurusan warga asing di Negara ini, sekali gus membantu menangani jenayah rentas sempadan khususnya jenayah pemerdagangan orang dan penyeludupan manusia.

Tuan Yang Di-pertua,

Kerajaan telah mengambil beberapa langkah untuk mengatasi masalah kekurangan pekerja dalam industry perkhidmatan dan pembuatan di Malaysia. Selaras dengan Program 6P ini juga Kerajaan telah menangguhkan pengambilan pekerja asing dari luar. Walaubagaimanapun, pihak Kerajaan memberi peluang kepada majikan dan industry untuk mendapatkan pekerja asing melalui Process Pendaftaran dan Pemutihan yang sedang dilaksanakan.

Bagi tujuan ini, pihak Kerajaan telah melonggarkan beberapa syarat dan peraturan di bawah Program 6P ang melibatkan perkara-perkara berikut:
1)    Membuka semula subsektor-subsektor di bawah sektor perkhidmatan yang dibekukan;
2)    Membenarkan sektor di luar dasar sedia ada mendapatkan pekerja asing melalui program pemutihan yang dijalankan; dan
3)    Melonggarkan syarat-syarat dan peraturan yang ditetapkan oleh Agensi Kawal Sedia untuk kelulusan pengambilan pekerja asing melalui proses Pemutihan yang dijalankan.

Langkah-langkah yang diambil ini adalah bagi memastikan majikan tidak menghadapi masalah kekurangan tenaga pekerja asing dan seterusnya manjamin kelancaran operasi di sector masing-masing.

Source: Teresa Kok's Blog

Only 19% of foreigners legalised (The Sun Daily)

The question remains as to how did these workers become 'illegal'(undocumented). Did they come to Malaysia as documented workers and then became undocumented, or did they enter the country as undocumented migrants and have always been undocumented.

After the registration exercise, some (a small percentage) of undocumented workers were 'legalized' made into documented workers, one wonders how many of these entered the country as documented and how many of these entered the country as undocumented? There has been rumours that some documented workers were 'encouraged' to become undocumented when the 6P program got on the way to be re-registered and made documented again to be working for some other employer... did this happen? Maybe the government could disclose statistic and information about these undocumented workers that went and registered themselves under that 6P programme..

Only 19% of foreigners legalised

Posted on 27 February 2012 - 08:53pm
Last updated on 28 February 2012 - 10:39am

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 27, 2012): The influx of illegal foreign workers is expected to continue as barely 18.95% of over two million workers were legalised during the 6P amnesty programme which was supposed to have ended on Feb 15.

Due to the poor turnout, the Home Ministry, however, has decided to extend the deadline to April 10 for the authorities managed to legalise only 79,000 immigrants, including 94,856 who chose to return home.

Universiti Utara Malaysia political and international studies lecturer Md Shukri Shuib said efforts to restrict the inflow of illegal immigrants would be futile for locals shun low-paying jobs in various industrial sectors, forcing employers to seek workers from abroad.

"Even though some locals were willing to take up the jobs, their number is rather small compared to huge job opportunities and rapid development in our vibrant industrial sectors.

"Lack of interest among locals to fill the vacuum in various industries led to employers resorting to hiring foreign workers to ensure that their operations run smoothly," he told Bernama.

On the low turnout during the 6P amnesty exercise, Md Shukri said the programme could be implemented effectively through concerted efforts from all quarters and not merely government agencies.

"Maybe it is better for the programme to be implemented continuously rather than on an ad-hoc basis for foreign workers will continue to flock to Malaysia due to our rapid development," he said.

Universiti Teknologi Mara's Faculty of Administration and Policy Studies lecturer Dr Syarifah Syahirah Syed Sheikh said management companies appointed as intermediaries between employers and illegal foreign workers should be continuously monitored.

"Ironically, irresponsible people have taken advantage of loopholes in its implementation," she said, adding that the 6P amnesty programme should be strengthened, added value and pursued aggressively.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Muslim Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DPPMM), one of the management companies appointed under the 6P amnesty programme, signed a memorandum of understanding with Partai Amanat Nasional Indonesia (PAN), an Indonesian political party, on Feb 16 last year to formulate a mechanism to address the illegal immigrant problem.

DPPMM president Jamal Nasir said both parties were working together to set up the PAN Crisis Centre which would provide services to Indonesian illegal immigrants as well as facilitate the 6P amnesty programme. -- Bernama - The Sun Daily, 27/2/2012, Only 19% of foreigners legalised

Australia in controversial refugee swap (DVB, 9/5/2011)

Australia in controversial refugee swap

By JOSEPH ALLCHIN
Published: 9 May 2011

Burmese are seen among detained migrants at Malaysia's Semenyih camp (Reuters)

Australia has struck a deal with the Malaysian government to accept thousands of refugees, mostly Burmese, living in the country in return for Malaysia taking on the burden of hundreds of boatpeople that arrive in Australia each year.

Canberra’s Labour government announced that it will send around 800 asylum seekers to camps in Malaysia over the next four years, whilst taking 4,000 UN-processed refugees who live there in crowded camps awaiting resettlement.

Australia will foot the bill for the deal, paying Malaysia a reported $AUS300 million ($US322.8 million). Immigration minister Chris Bowen said in a statement that the main message of the so-called Regional Cooperation Framework was for asylum seekers heading to Australia to “[not] get on that boat.”

Thousands of asylum seekers arrive by boat in northern Australia each year after gruelling, often hazardous, sea journeys. But the deal, Bowen said, “will help put people smugglers out of business and prevent asylum seekers making the dangerous journey to Australia by boat.”

Under the arrangement, a statement said, those send to Malaysia would be placed at the “back of the queue” for resettlement. This comes despite the falling numbers of ‘boatpeople’, as sea-bound refugees are often termed – the Independent newspaper notes that 940 asylum seekers arrived by boat this year compared with some 2,000 in the corresponding period last year.

The agreement was a result of the 4th Bali Process Regional Ministerial Conference on people trafficking in March. Activist Pranom Somwong alleged that the deal used anti-trafficking rhetoric, when in actual fact the Australian government was seeking to placate a distinctly anti-immigrant sentiment amongst Australia’s population, many of whom, including Prime Minster Julia Gillard and leader of the opposition Tony Abbot, are recent immigrants themselves.

The two, both of whom or who’s families arrived under Australia’s previous immigration policy, termed “White Australia”, which officially ended in 1973, have themselves been accused of racism.

Ian Rentoul, from the Refugee Action Coalition of Australia, earlier told DVB that “the racism of the Labour party is quite disguised”, whereas “the racism of the Liberals is very much on display”. Liberal leader Abbott is famous for statements such as “the great prize of Australian citizenship is insufficiently appreciated and given away too lightly”.

Gillard defended herself from critics when she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation: “For people to say they’re anxious about border security doesn’t make them intolerant. It certainly doesn’t make them a racist – it means they’re expressing a genuine view.”

Of the bilateral agreement, Abbot told the BBC that “Today we’ve seen a panicked announcement from a government which is proving yet again that it’s both untrustworthy and incompetent,” despite the policy being appropriated from Abbot’s right leaning Liberal party.

Australia has been criticised in the past for the practice of offshore detention camps started by former Liberal party Prime Minister John Howard, who built various immigration centres in the Pacific nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru. He said in 1988 that “it would be in our immediate-term interest and supporting of social cohesion if it [Asian immigration] were slowed down a little.”

These centres have also been under the spotlight, with the thousands detained each year often kept in conditions that have sparked numerous protests, with one Burmese man earlier this year setting himself alight.

Malaysia-based human rights lawyer Charles Hector has asserted that Malaysia is already home to roughly five million undocumented migrants, with those unfortunate enough to find themselves in detention centres also regularly protesting the dire conditions.

The Malaysian government is routinely criticised for its refusal to become a signatory to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), earlier told DVB that detainees were subject to malnutrition and disease, whilst government officials had profited from the trade in people. The US government has repeatedly condemned Malaysia’s track record on human trafficking.

Recent cases have also painted a negative picture of the Malaysian justice system. Lawyer Hector is currently in court facing charges of defamation for publicly defending Burmese migrant workers who were not receiving their contractual dues. The company in question, Asahi Kosei, hit back by saying that the workers were not employed by them, but rather brokers, a system that critics say abrogates legal responsibility from employers. - Democratic Voice of Burma, 9/5/2011, Australia in controversial refugee swap

Malaysian Detention Centres are already overcrowded - so why accept to house asylum seekers already in Australia?

Malaysian Detention Centres are already overcrowded - so why accept to house asylum seekers already in Australia?

Malaysian detention centers currently housing alleged undocumented migrants, which would include asylum seekers and others, are already overcrowded - and detainees and civil society have been protesting for better and more humanitarian detention conditions. 

When complaints of detainees fall on 'deaf' ears of the detaining authority and Malaysian government, there have been 'protests' - some of which have even resulted in fires and breakouts. Most recent have been the protests in the Lengeng Detention Centre. [See earlier posts:-Lenggeng Immigration Depot breakout - Investigate the root causes]

 

When asylum seekers reach Australia and claim for asylum, Australia should be housing these asylum seekers in Australia while the Australian government processes their applications....It is odd that they do not want to house them in Australia and was seeking other countries to house them...

Malaysia also have hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers and refugees that come to Malaysia  seeking asylum and refugee status - but whilst their application are being processed by the relevant bodies, they are all in Malaysia. Malaysia does not try to 'group them and dump them' in some other country....

There are already about 5 million undocumented migrants in Malaysia, which also includes tens of thousands of asylum seekers and refugees - so, I am shocked to learn that Malaysia has agreed to accept about 800 more asylum seekers from Australia. (This number would increase as more and more asylum seekers go to Australia). 

Why does Malaysia do this? The report says that in response Australia will accept 4,000 refugees per year. As a member of the UN, Australia already has an obligation to accept asylum seekers and refugees - and we already have tens of thousands of persons already accorded refugee status still waiting to be re-located in a 3rd country, like Australia who has the space and the capability to accept refugees. We have even more persons (maybe over 100,000 more) still waiting for asylum seeker/refugee status.

Even after persons get refugee(or asylum seeker status), and those still in the process of application are not provided housing and board in Malaysia, and they are just left to fend for themselves. Not having the right to legally work, and given the fact that Malaysian law does not recognize refugees and asylum seekers, they are all treated as 'undocumented' migrants who will be subject to arrest, detention and even deportation. 

Malaysia already has its own problems - and it makes no sense that Malaysia has now agreed to accept these persons who went to Australia seeking asylum and refugee status.

Further, would it also not be discriminatory and prejudicial when these persons in Australia seeking asylum are Malaysians - surely the return of Malaysian asylum seekers to Australia would be an act of 'non-refoulement' ...and an act contrary to universal principles and law.

Australia must revoke this agreement and keep their asylum seekers, now already in Australia, in Australia - not send them to some other country.

 

May 07, 2011

Malaysia, Australia Agree On Cooperative Transfer Of Asylum Seekers

KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 (Bernama) -- In a move to combat people smuggling and irregular migration in the Asia-Pacific region, Malaysia and Australia today announced a new bilateral arrangement which entails among others, an agreement for a cooperative transfer of asylum seekers.

In a statement issued by both governments, they said that under the new arrangement, asylum seekers arriving by sea in Australia would be transferred to Malaysia.

In exchange, Australia would expand its humanitarian programme and take on a greater burden-sharing responsibility for resettling refugees currently residing in Malaysia, the statement said.

Both prime ministers agreed that the core elements of the arrangement would include the transfer of 800 irregular maritime arrivals, who arrived in Australia after the date of effect of the arrangement, to Malaysia, for refugee status determination.

"In return, over four years, Australia will resettle 4,000 refugees already currently residing in Malaysia," the statement added.

The statement added that the transferees would not receive any preferential treatment over asylum seekers already in Malaysia.

"Transferees will be provided with the opportunity to have their asylum claims considered and those in need of international protection will not be refouled," it said.

Both governments also pledged to treat transferees "with dignity and respect and in accordance with human rights standards."

Australia would fully fund the arrangement, it added.

Both leaders said the bilateral agreement signed by both of them was part of the Regional Cooperation Framework agreed to at the Bali Process Ministerial Conference in Bali, Indonesia on March 30 this year.

They said that both countries were working closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to operationalise the arrangement.

Najib and Gillard said the complex nature of irregular migration, which they said was closely linked to the crimes of human trafficking and people smuggling, cannot be solved by acting alone but "must be tackled by countries forming cooperative arrangements under the auspices of regional and international frameworks."

They said the implementation of this one-off pilot project would be important "to undermine the business model of transnational criminal syndicates" particularly in people smuggling and human trafficking in this region.

The Malaysian and Australian governments had asked senior officials to finalise a memorandum of understanding in the near future to set out detailed arrangements, the statement added.

-- BERNAMA

Australia must call off asylum seeker “outsourcing” deal with Malaysia

Press Release : Australia must call off asylum seeker “outsourcing” deal with Malaysia

On 7.5.2011, Australia and Malaysia announced a bilateral agreement which sought to transfer up to 800 asylum seekers who have arrived in Australia by sea to Malaysia while their asylum claims are being process by the UNHCR. In return, Australia will resettle 4,000 refugees currently residing in Malaysia over a period of four years.

While Australia’s agreement to accept more refugees for resettlement is commendable, Lawyers for Liberty is however extremely shocked and concerned by Australia’s plan to forcefully deport asylum seekers and “outsource” its international obligation to protect refugees as defined under international law including the 1951 Refugee Convention which Australia is a party to.

Let there be no doubt: Malaysia has a horrendous track record – infamous for its ill and brutal treatment of refugees and other undocumented migrants and has been consistently ranked as one of the world’s worst place for refugees to be in.

Malaysia is not a state party to the Refugee Convention and in the absence of a comprehensive national legal and administrative framework for the protection of refugees, this transfer deal will certainly violate the rights of the refugees including the right not to be forcefully deported; the right to life, liberty and security of the person; and the right to freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.

In Malaysia, refugees and asylum seekers are still treated as undocumented migrants and subjected to harsh immigration laws and policies. Without documents, they are unable to work legally and live in perpetual fear of raids, arrest and harassment. Consequently, they live in the margins of society, constantly in hiding and living in poverty.

When arrested they are detained at detention centres for several months (sometimes even years) before being charged, jailed, whipped (men only) and deported, mainly to the Thai border – and some find themselves sold to human traffickers.

In May and September 2009, eight Burmese detainees died in two detention centres due to Leptospirosis, an infectious disease caused by water or food contaminated with animal urine. Detention conditions are deplorable and inhumane – overcrowding, sweltering, lack bedding, poor hygiene and sanitation, insufficient and poor quality food, irregular access to clean water and medical treatment, all of which fall far short of minimum international standards. Serious abuse by detention centre staff is also common, including arbitrary beatings.

The then Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar reported to Parliament that between 1999 and 2008, there were 2,571 detainee deaths in prisons, rehabilitation centres and immigration detention centres. In December 2008, former Suhakam Commissioner Datuk Siva Subramaniam said 1,300 foreigners died in detention during the past six years due to lack of medical treatment and neglect.

How can the Australian government be blind to Malaysia’s severe and brutal treatment of undocumented migrants and refugees and “outsource” its responsibility, without seriously undermining the rights, well being and safety of the refugees?

Australia, being a state party to the Refugee Convention, instead of working hand in hand with Malaysia to punish and deter refugees, should strive to formulate policies that are protective of refugees and consistent with its international obligation. It can start by calling off this terrible outsourcing deal.

Issued by Lawyers for Liberty

9 May 2011

Fadiah