He’s a Myanmar; a refugee; a Rohingya. He’s married to a Malay-Bumiputra.
He’s often at public meetings about Human Rights. He always wears a tie, suit, and nice shoes. He always asks the same questions or makes the same comments from the floor.
His name card says he’s the president of a Rohingya NGO. He speaks for Rohingya in Myanmar and in Malaysia. He speaks to Malaysian ministers, officials, activists.
Being in his presence is awkward because his speech is frenetic, his words insinuate we’re inhumane; he lightly claims for foreigners the rights of citizens.
Rohingya groups in Malaysia are publicly vocal about what they want us to give them.
They want us to give shelter, food, health-care, education, work, police protection and even citizenship to the thousands of Rohingya who’ve fled Myanmar and come to us.
They are silent about thousands of others, including their fellow countrymen, who’ve also come to us as refugees. They are silent about the burden placed on us by refugees and non-documented foreigners.
Datuk Seri Richard Riot, our minister for human resources, has broken the government’s silence about the challenge of non-documented foreigners.
He has broken a national secret: there are about 6.7 million foreign workers in Malaysia, of whom 4.6 million are non-documented.
Foreigners work in our restaurant kitchens, car washes, farms – the list goes on. It is an open secret that they are abused and tormented by employers, the police and gangsters.
The victims are quietly submissive because they know that if they resist or complain they will get reported, be detained, caned, and repatriated to extreme misery.
Many of our cities have areas in which foreigners form the majority and the business of abusing them is a thriving industry.
We also operate detention centres.
Every day, at roadblocks around our nation, the police detect and detain undocumented workers.
Detainees whose employers cannot get them released – Malaysia boleh! – will be caned and deported from our land, a land shaped by migrants and their descendants.
It is hard to find an honest Malaysian who does not admit one of his kin is an immigrant – our prime minister and our home minister have both famously acknowledged their Indonesian heritage.
Our ancestors came mostly from China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. Some had definite job offers before they came. Others came hoping to find jobs, food and friendship. Many died. Some survived. A few prospered.
How should citizens of a nation whose prosperity was built by desperate immigrants deal with desperate refugees?
Citizenship confers rights. Citizens should have priority when it comes to education, employment, health, housing, and other basic needs. Citizens have responsibilities such as paying taxes, supporting the government and defending the nation.
So, in light of the Minister’s revelation and the daily police actions, we wonder whether our policies towards non-documented foreigners respect the dignity of every human.
We wonder why we are so ineffective in preventing non-documented foreigners from entering our nation and what we can do to make our borders less porous.
We know non-documented foreigners are caned before they are repatriated. We are hazy about our policy in relation to repatriating refugees to countries like Myanmar which are known to treat returnees inhumanely. What can we do?
Considering Malaysia’s immigrant history and continuing dependence upon foreign labour, we should take the lead to determine how Asean nations handle undocumented persons. This should be the mark of Malaysia’s leadership of Asean.
We should address what to do with non-documented foreigners who are already here as well as what actions their home states should take to prevent others from departing. We should find ways to penalise Asean states whose citizens seek asylum in our nation.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman have often said that Malaysia’s goal is to create a truly people-centred Asean.
If they are serious, they will establish a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to determine the will of Malaysians about the treatment of non-documented foreigners, and ensure the policies of all relevant ministries are aligned with the will of the people.
The PSC should invite submissions from religious groups as well as NGOs since Malaysian Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, Sai Baba followers and others routinely show by their acts that they recognise the humanity of non-documented foreigners.
It is they who provide much of the needed shelter, food, health-care and education. It is they who expose and rail against the abusers and tormenters.
Wouldn’t we prefer to read about “religious” and “secular” views of humanity and sovereignty instead of rants about alleged confusions and conversions from Malay Supremacist groups like Isma and Perkasa?
Isn’t it time for MPs to do the real work of listening to the people and making laws? – March 19, 2015.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.
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