Deporting 'troublemakers': Malaysians are mature, the authorities are not

The detainment and deportation of Ong Boon Keong should cause alarm bells to ring. Has the Immigration Department taken charge of deporting Malaysians for doing nothing more than from moving within their own country?

Ong or Organic Ong as he is fondly called was on a visit to Bengoh, a Bidayuh village on the ourskirts of Kuching, to visit villagers there. It was there that 10 immigration officers arriving in 5 vehicles detained Ong and brought him back to the immigration department in Kuching.

He was held for questioning and then deported.

A puzzling series of events since there was no reason given for his detainment and deportation. Even Ong was puzzled, leading him to say that there may be “some politicians who did not like" what he was doing.

Ong is part of the Malaysian Election Observers Network (MEO-Net), a group dedicated to coordinate civil society work on voter education, democracy education, election observation and voter registration. He was in Sarawak to investigate and expose what the group alleges are infringements and malpractice in the election process.

State polls, now federal polls

Bengoh is the site of the Bengoh Dam, where leading up to the state elections was a hot-bed of controversy. The land-owners were crying foul over the compensation proposed by the local government for land submerged by dam waters.

This issue continued to play out over the election period, yet, the seat remained with Chief Minister Taib Mahmud's Barisan Nasional. This is in spite of earlier predictions that the seat would go Pakatan Rakyat’s way.

There is widespread speculation, not just in Bengoh, that money pumped into Dayak seats helped turn the tide for BN. Though treated as allegations, such allegations need to be investigated and since the Election Commission seems reluctant to act upon it, groups such as MEO-Net have taken the lead.

Ong entered Sarawak on May 21st without impediment but was detained by the Immigration Department without arrest and deported without reasons given. Does this set a precedent that the Immigration Department can detain anybody it deems a “trouble-maker” without arrest and deported without reason?

Is this not a clear sign that the form of democracy practiced in Malaysia is totalitarian in nature?

Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights specifically states - (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state, (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Without valid reasons for deportation or even arrest, Ong’s detainment and deportation is illegal and goes against his rights as a citizen.

The citizens of Malaysia require an explanation to this incident, or are we going to see more detainment without arrest and deportation without reason as we draw closer to towards the 13th general elections? - Malaysia Chronicle