When confronted by rights group Suaram about abuses of power by Rela during roundups of migrants, Home Affairs Minister DS Radzi Sheikh Ahmad had this to say:

“Why should Rela stop (their raids)? There are over half a million illegals in our country, disturbing people like you and everybody else.

“The members of the public think that Rela is doing a good job. Citizens are very happy with Rela. Only those harbouring illegals are not happy”

I am a citizen. I am not harbouring ‘illegals.’ I am not happy with Rela.

My own mother was robbed by unidentifed snatch thiefs. But I am perfectly aware that there is still a very high ratio of migrants who make my life so much more bearable to the number of migrants the government wants me to believe are behind all my problems. Eaten in a KL restaurant recently?

DS Radzi’s statements seem to be the response of someone threatened by and afraid of the highlights of the Suaram memo. I would be too, given all the evidence Suaram has been able to provide (see Suaram Report - Selayang Rela Raid of 13 May 2006). His belligerence has been picked up by the international press, lagi mencemarkan nama baik negara. When asked about overcrowding in detention centres, DS Radzi responded:

“If they have to sleep on floors right next to one another, so be it,”

Of course, unlike his subordinate, Rela director-general, Datuk Zaidon Asmuni, DS Radzi now says he doesn’t believe the detention centres are overcrowded.

(DS Radzi) said there is sufficient space to house them.

“Not all of the aliens will be detained for a long time. They will either be sent to jail for their offences or they will be deported after they are produced in court,”

I’ve met some detainees and activists who may would beg to differ.

These men and women are held for months and years, never being produced in court (and when they are it is an insult to justice and the law). Of course they would rather go home (’be deported’) than rot in detention centers that are probably worse than prisons, but if they can’t pay for their own passage home, the government certainly is going to. Even DS himself notes:

The deportation process isn’t quick. “We need to liaise with the authorities of the respective immigrant, and this process takes at least three months to be resolved,” The Star newspaper quoted Radzi as saying.

If you read carefully, I think that means that deportation will happen only if the other government (’authorities of the respective immigrant’) is willing to take them back and pay for the passage. The Filipino government is decent about this (and even they fall short sometimes), but most others aren’t.

In light of all this, DS Radzi’s confidence and statements regarding the quick turnover of detainees seem deceptive. His remarks regarding being charged in court and being deported are misleading at best.

More likely, we will see the perpetuation of our cruel policies where immigrants are held indefinitely in overcrowded centres, subject to horrible living conditions and left to rot.

And what do you achieve? An employment gap Malaysians aren’t willing to fill, and continuation of a cylce where people who are caught and kicked out somehow find a way back in. Why? Brian Yap makes the astute observation:

While the knee-jerk, xenophobic reaction would be to give free reign to authorities to do whatever they please to those who don’t fall under the Malay, Chinese, Indian and lain-lain banner, knee-jerk reactions rarely make sense. Send everyone away, and who’s going to do the work? Rela?

Exactly.

See here for my full take on longer term solutions, and read on for further analysis of recent articles.

Datuk Seri Radzi Sheikh Ahmad brushed off complaints that Rela members were abusive and rude when handling detainees or searching for illegal immigrants.

He also said human rights group Suaram should bring up the complaints with him instead of asking the government to disallow the raids.

Not going to the Minister is probably some reflection of the faith civil society has in the government. But it’s an offer worth taking up.

Asked about the problem of overcrowded detention centres, Radzi said renovations to enlarge the facilities would be completed next year.

Gov’t time estimates are another thing I don’t have too much faith in. And what about all the people they’ll round up in the meantime. Has DS Radzi ever spent a few days in living conditions at all similar?

A lot of these people are not criminals. Many are victims of smuggling, or have lost their documentation due to incidences such as highlighted by a Suhakam Commissioner Dtk N. Siva Subramaniam

Dtk Siva said members were said to be destroying documents belonging to migrant workers.

The same comissioner in Malaysiakini:

“Suhakam is deeply concerned that Rela is acting with absolute powers. We have met with Rela and we’re discussing possibilities to train their officers,” Siva added.

Think about it - what’s to stop an overzealous Rela member in the field from taking documents presented by a migrant (who has little to no legal protection), tearing them up, and throwing them into the drain?

*

More excerpts from Brian Yap’s piece:

it is impossible to spend a day in a major Malaysian city without interacting with someone originally from either Indonesia, Nepal, Burma, Bangladesh, India, China or Africa.

They are the invisible residents of this country. They work, live and contribute to the economy like everyone else, but for the most part there’s little acknowledgement about their role in our society, except when they’re blamed for the crime rate or prostitution.

Yep. Always easier to blame ‘outsiders’ when we’re not willing to face the ills within our own society, isn’t it?

*

What exactly is the world reading about this issue? Excerpts from the IHT:

Malaysian civilians volunteering to help catch illegal immigrants often use excessive force, causing serious injuries to foreigners from Indonesia, Bangladesh and Myanmar in recent months, human rights activists said Wednesday.

A volunteer force of more than 400,000 civilians — known by its Malay acronym Rela — has in recent years helped police and immigration officers find and detain suspects. But most of its members are ill-trained and fail to understand the need for human rights protection, said Suaram, Malaysia’s leading rights group.

The volunteers “regularly use brutal methods and excessive force while arresting migrants,” Suaram said in a statement, adding that it was “a national shame and a dangerous setback for the promotion and protection of human rights in Malaysia.”

The group cited at least three incidents since July when suspected illegal immigrants from Indonesia, Bangladesh and Myanmar were beaten. Most were later discovered to have valid immigration documents, Suaram added.

Volunteers also often force their way into homes without warrants, destroy private property and wrongfully detain suspects, Suaram said, urging officials not to use civilian volunteers.

Home Ministry officials couldn’t immediately be contacted for comment. But government officials and police have repeatedly defended the use of civilian volunteers, saying they have basic instructions on performing their duties and that rights violations are rare.

Thousands of immigrants come to Malaysia, one of Southeast Asia’s wealthiest nations, seeking employment in plantations, construction sites, factories and other industries to escape poverty or instability in their home countries.

*

Also see an Aliran article.

Tags: Detention without Trial, Government Policies, Migrants //