By Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria
This morning I read a tragic story of M.Rajeshavari (22) in the Sunday Star entitled “Malaysian spends 11 months at depot for illegals”. M.Rajeshavari was arrested in Brickfields for being thought be a foreign national as she could not produce her identification card (IC) or remember the number. She was not able to speak in the Malay language. At the point of arrest she was six months pregnant.
Thinking she is a foreign national authorities brought her before the court and she was then sent to the Lenggeng immigration depot in Negeri Sembilan. According to the Star story Rajeshavari kept telling the officials that she is a Malaysian and that she lost her IC.
Her freedom came when she was sent to a clinic for food poising and through their assistance and NGO assisted Rajeshavari to trace her birth certificate number through her Tamil school and subsequently got the Registration department to give the IC details and certification that she is a Malaysian citizen. It took the NGO a week to trace the details and secured Rajeshavari’s release.
Like a Tamil Drama
What a story? More like a Tamil movie or drama but this has taken place in Malaysia while we celebrated 51 years of our independence. A Malaysian women and her child were in detention for eleven months.
How could this happen?
What does citizenship mean in this context?
Is there no way for authorities to verify if Rajeshavari was claiming to be a malaysian and that she has lost her IC?
Can the authorities not be able to check if there was no IC number? Can’t one use thumb print?
If the individual cannot speak the Malay language, why was not a translator available to communicate? How does immigration communicate with other foreign nationals who have been detained?
Eleven months has passed, is Rajeshavri as a human being important? What about the child? What of stateless people?
What needs to be done to prevent a reoccurrence?
How can we ensure that the Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security and its departments like immigration and registration department are able to be more compassionate?
Should not the relevant authorities have officers who can speak languages like Tamil, Chinese, Myanmar or Bangladesh languages and be more foreign national sensitive? If not, have a panel or work with NGOs who have such expertise.
Violation of Citizenship Rights
This is a major violation of human rights of a citizen of Malaysia. While not having documents is an offence but to be detained for eleven months is a travesty of justice. How could we repay Rajeshvari for the trauma, nightmare, psychological pressure and despair? It is the poor and low income families with little education who become victims of our rules and standards. It is therefore necessary to assist the poor through access to legal counsel and advice to prevent another human being to undergo such an experience in modern Malaysia.
A sorry or apology alone is insufficient. Some form of compensation from the Federal government is urgently necessary to undo this great injustice to two Malaysians. The federal Government should investigate on how a bureaucratic mishap like this could take place. If there is any negligence on the part of any public officials then appropriate action must be taken to display that the Malaysian federal Government is truly a Caring Government.
As she is unemployed and a single mother the Ministry of Women, family and Community Development should come with compassionate assistance. In addition the government through the Department of Social Welfare must undertake follow up and ensure that she will be able to adjust back to normal life. Furthermore NGOs could continue to provide support care and the private sector could assist through employment opportunities.
Through these measures and many more would Rajeshavri and her son Logekali experience some justice and compassion. They will be able to rediscover that in Malaysia there are public officials who truly care and respect basic human rights for all human beings.
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