A motion under the Parliament Standing Order 18 (1) to discuss issues on refugees and detention centre in Malaysia, as highlighted by Al Jazeera news agency, has been submitted to Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia.
By FAZLEENA AZIZ – 24 November 2014 @ 10:27 PM
KUALA LUMPUR: A motion under the Parliament Standing Order 18 (1) to discuss issues on refugees and detention centre in Malaysia, as highlighted by Al Jazeera news agency, has been submitted to Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia.
The motion via letter was submitted by Segambut Member of Parliament Lim Lip Eng to discuss the policies and engagement of the Government that is said to have violated human rights depicted in the Al Jazeera report ‘1001 East: Malaysia’s Unwanted’ aired on Nov 19.
Lim said that in the report by Stephen Chao, who went undercover as a priest, showed that children were kept in the detention centre.
He said that at least four violations under the Malaysian and International law were noted in the report including mistreatment by the police and Immigration Department and corruption allegations.
“In the report, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar doesn’t deny the involvement of children but this violates the United Nation’s Convention on Child (UNCC), to which Malaysia is a signatory member,” Lim said at the Parliament lobby today.
“According to the United Nations website, there are 260,552 refugees in the country and out of this, 40,000 are stateless. The Human Resources minister had said that there are 6.7 million foreign workers in the country either working illegally or legally, which is almost triple the population in KL.
“All these numbers are alarming because as the chairman of Asean we need to address and investigate this matter fully, as most of these refuges are from Asean countries.
“These allegations tarnish the image of Malaysia and we have to look at them seriously. It is a matter of international reputation and we hope a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) can be formed to investigate these claims and make recommendations to address the issue.”
