The Shah Alam High Court today fixed May 29 as a new date to hear the application for a 15-year-old Rohingya refugee under detention to quash her immigration offence case.
High Court judge Hasbullah Adam made the decision after hearing the request from deputy public prosecutor Noor Mawarni Halim to refer the case to the International Affairs Division (IAD) under the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC).
“This case involves issues of international laws. We do not have any other choice but to set aside some time for the case to be referred to the IAD first before we proceed,” Hasbullah said.
He added that the case is given priority although the court is inundated with other cases.
The teenager’s legal team previously went to the Shah Alam High Court to nullify the case after the magistrate’s court in Petaling Jaya denied her bid to be released on bail pending disposal of an immigration offence charge.
Meanwhile, her counsel Collin Arvind Andrew expressed hope that further consideration by the AGC would result in a decision that is favourable to his client.
Speaking to Malaysiakini outside the courtroom today, Collin said the defence is ready to proceed with the hearing, should the AGC maintain its charge against the teenager.
“We will see what the outcome is. Of course, if the AGC decides that it is agreeable to withdraw the charge, it may not proceed.
“We will dispose of the case. At the end of the day, that’s what we are seeking, in the best interest of the child who is currently detained,” he said.
Laws for children seeking asylum
Previously, the lawyer said the teenager, who arrived in Malaysia unaccompanied, was arrested last April and later charged under Section 6 of the Immigration Act 1959/63, for the offence of not having valid travel documents.
The lawyer said the basis of their application is that the immigration charge is defective and baseless for violating the fourth preamble of the Child Act 2001 and Article 22 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
He explained that both laws provide safeguards to Rohingya children seeking asylum from persecution.
Article 22 states that a child or young person is a refugee if they had to leave their country to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.
The Rohingya ethnic group has been the target of a military crackdown by Myanmar’s authoritarian regime that drove vast numbers of them out of the country’s Rakhine state.
A large number of these stateless people were forced to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh, India, China, and Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia. - Mkini
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