An activist likened the fate of disabled persons to that of Internal Security Act detainees, adding that the former group has it worse as they are often ignored by local human rights organisations.

Sometimes being ignored is the worst thing in the world, people-with-disability (PWD) activist Anthony S Thanasayan said yesterday.

He claimed that the disabled in Malaysia are enduring the sufferings of ISA detainees on a daily basis because they are not able to freely go out of their homes.

Anthony, the founder of Bivai Special Dogs training programme which trains service dogs for PWDs, was speaking to malaysiakini after attending the launch of two booklets on the proceedings from a workshop and a forum about the Malaysian Human Rights Commission.

The event in Kuala Lumpur yesterday was jointly organised by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and Era Consumer.

Anthony was accompanied by two other PWD activists, Francis Siva and Gurdip Kaur from the Independent Living and Training Centre in Selangor.

Anthony lamented that human rights organisations, such as the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), have proved meaningless to the disabled who are still struggling for basic rights.

He said the disabled groups has held several meetings with Suhakam since its inception and the rights body held a major programme for the disabled last year.

We brought up a lot of issues. But we have not heard anything since then, Anthony said, who also has a column with The Star .

The activist pointed out that Suhakam has not responded to the various issues related to the disabled, such as their right to special telephone rates and the problem of accessibility, although there was a lot of publicity on these matters.

Mobility problem

We cant get out of our house. This is a thing we have lived with all our lives. But some of us are the lucky ones here today. We managed to get out of the situation. But still they (Suhakam) have not caught on with the basic issue of the disabled, which is transport, he said.

The issue of public transportation for the disabled is an issue which has not been properly dealt with, he said.

We cant go to school if we have a wheelchair [and t]hats wrong, the activist said, adding that Suhakam could organise a campaign to make schools more accessible to the disabled.

Anthony also hopes to see more participation by the disabled in human rights functions so that their issues can be championed by the organisers.

When these human rights organisations start caring for the disabled, the government may take them more seriously and realise that there is something else  some humanitarian work behind them other than just trying to fight [the authority], he said.

The activist suggested that Suhakam visit the homes of the disabled to see how they go about their daily routine.

They should come and see firsthand what we are going through, he said.

There are about 100,000 people-with-disability in Malaysia who are registered with the Welfare Department, he said.

According to an international estimate, about 10 percent of a countrys population is disabled, he added.