National Task Force panned for 'hypocrisy' against Rohingya refugees

 

The National Task Force in charge of border patrols and other enforcement activities during the current movement control order period has been taken to task for its warning to the Rohingya minority escaping Myanmar's junta regime that their arrival in Malaysia is not welcome.

Migrant rights activists said the stand taken by the NTF today was hypocritical, particularly in light of the government's support for the Palestinians, many of who were forced to escape attacks by Israel's Zionist regime.

The Immigration Department had taken to Twitter this afternoon and shared a poster from the NTF which showed three armed personnel from the police, army and maritime enforcement bodies against a background of refugees sailing in wooden boats on the high seas.

The wordings, in Bahasa Malaysia, read (translation): "Ethnic Rohingya Migrants, Your Arrivals Are Uninvited".

"The masterminds and syndicates involved will be hunted down to crack down on cross-border and other crimes," said the department further on Twitter.

Amnesty-International Malaysia executive director Katrina Jorene Maliamauv described NTF's message as "despicable" and "grotesque".

"It is despicable to say to a community of people who have undergone ethnic cleansing, who have endured unimaginable brutality for generations, that they are not only unwanted in our country but that we will use brute force against them.

"It is also particularly grotesque coming from leaders who will crow to the international community about their concern for Palestinians one week, then in the very next breath, threaten violence against others who are traumatised and displaced," she told Malaysiakini when contacted.

"How does the Malaysian government justify that hypocrisy?" she stressed.

On Twitter, critics reminded the Malaysian government of its gatherings held in solidarity with Rohingya refugees, including a major 2016 rally that united top Umno and PAS leaders led by then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Others who mocked the message also questioned whether Rohingya refugees attempting to enter Malaysia would be able to read it.

North-South Initiative executive director Adrian Pereira said the government has wrongly identified migrants and Rohingya refugees as its enemy, particularly in the current war against Covid-19.

"This is unnecessary propaganda which is creating a negative public perception The real enemies are the traffickers and smugglers. Not refugees and asylum seekers," said Pereira.

He further cited unresolved issues highlighted in at least two major government reports on the management of migrant workers here including those who were undocumented.

"We are not saying stop all enforcement but don’t create false perceptions of the (migrants) issue," he said.

Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or the 1967 Protocol and lacks a legal or administrative framework to regulate the status and rights of refugees.

'Impact on refugees here'

Both Maliamauv and Pereira noted that the warning - purportedly to deter new refugee arrivals - would instead cause more harm to migrants already here further compounding the increased xenophobia and racism seen since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic last year.

"They’ve talked about the serious impact on their mental health, about receiving threats to their lives.

"There has been a rise in suicides among migrants and asylum seekers," said Maliamauv.

"Make no mistake, 'strategic communications' and policies like these foster a climate of hatred, violence and xenophobia. They harm lives, they punish people for trying to survive, they justify discrimination.

"We can choose to spend so much money and resources on acts of violence and hatred or we can create a response of care and protection," she said.

Pereira, meanwhile, reiterated that any form of a crackdown against refugees or migrants would ultimately push them further into hiding and impact the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.

Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin had, prior to the start of the movement control order earlier this month, announced another major crackdown on migrants here, earning brickbats from various rights groups.

He, however, justified the operations as part of the government's attempts to protect Malaysians and "assist undocumented migrants" to get vaccinated on top of assuring they would be given the option of being deported or legalised under the labour recalibration programme.

Despite intense criticism, Hamzah yesterday said his ministry will continue cracking down on migrants during the ongoing total lockdown. - Mkini