The government will not entertain any appeals from the Ukraine-based Crimea State Medical University (CSMU) against the decision to de-recognise its medical degree.

Health Minister Dr Chua Soi Lek said the government had given ample time to the university but it had not appealed or replied to the enquiries made by the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC).

He expressed disappointment that the university had remained silent although the issue received widespread media coverage over the past two weeks.

"Till now, we have not received any reply or appeals from CSMU. Only the Ukraine Ambassador to Malaysia (Oleksandar D Shevchenko) made a statement and he tried to turn the matter into a political issue," he told reporters at the Parliament's lobby today.

"The cabinet, in its weekly meeting yesterday, decided not to entertain any appeals from the university. The decision is final," he added.

Elaborating, Chua said the government was promoting the country as a health tourism destination and therefore cannot compromise on the quality of Malaysian doctors.

The minister claimed that the education quality in CSMU was questionable.

"This is because CSMU still used Russian language as the medium of instruction although it was asked to conduct the medial degree programme in English," he said.

Security concerns

When replying to Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor) in the Dewan Rakyat earlier, Chua also cited security concerns and corruption to back the government's decision.

According to him, rape cases were reported among Malaysian students and the victims were threatened not to report to the authorities.

"They were also students who are not qualified but accepted through agents to follow the pre-medical course... I received letters that contains elements of corruption from certain quarters," he said.

When asked to elaborate on this "corruption elements" during the press conference, Chua refused, saying, "I will only mention that in the House because I have MP's privilege there, when I come out here, I have no proof and I can be sued."

The minister stressed that the decision to withdraw the recognition was made based on professional assessment and was not politically or racially motivated.

Yesterday, the cabinet upheld the MMC's decision to de-recognise the CSMU medical degree but agreed to extend the recognition to the current batch of the 247 medical students undergoing the 10-month preparatory course there.

The de-recognition drew a controversy after MIC president and Works Minister S Samy Vellu lashed out at the MMC for being racially biased against Indian Malaysians in arriving at such a decision, an allegation the council has since firmly denied .

About 70 percent of more than 1,000 Malaysians enrolled in CSMU are ethnic Indians.