Newly-appointed Suhakam commissioner from Sabah, Jannie Lasimbang, plans to fly to Kuching soon to seek clarification on a decision by the state government to lift the ban imposed on her entering the state since Nov 17 1994.

She expects to be accompanied by Suhakam vice chairperson Khaw Lake Tee and other officials of the Malaysian Human Rights Commission.

In lifting the ban, according to Lasimbang, the Sarawak Government imposed three conditions in a letter dated Nov 9 and received on Monday this week.

She expressed great disappointment with the letter which was signed by the Sarawak state secretary Mohd Morshidi Abdul Ghani.

Jannie Lasimbang The letter from Sarawak was in response to one from Suhakam requesting that the ban on Lasimbang ( left ) be lifted and making reference to her duties as Suhakam commissioner.

The three conditions: that she enters Sarawak in connection with discharge of her official duties as a member of Suhakam; that she should not be involved directly or indirectly in activities which are deemed detrimental to the interests of the state; and that she should not associate herself with organisations which are actively instigating or encouraging the natives of Sarawak to carry out activities which are detrimental to the interests of the state.

The letter from Mohd Morshidi also states that as Suhakam was not established under the Federal Constitution and the Sarawak Constitution, Lasimbang is in fact not entitled to enter the state under section 66(1)( c) of the Immigration Act 1965.

"We will seek clarification on what the Sarawak government means by activities detrimental to the interests of the state and the organisations that they have in mind," said Lasimbang. "We hope to meet the Sarawak state secretary."

While the ban on her entering the state has been "lifted", there's no guarantee that the ban would not be re-imposed once she's no longer a Suhakam commissioner.

This is based on the fact that many others banned along with her in 1994 are still on the Immigration Department's blacklist. This is a matter that Lasimbang is likely to take up with the Sarawak state secretary.

Khaw has been quoted as saying in the national media yesterday that Suhakam wants to make sure that Lasimbang's task of collecting information to support Suhakam's first ever national inquiry into the rights of the indigenous peoples, will not be jeopardised by the restrictions imposed on her.

"Suhakam is willing to discuss the extent of the restrictions to have a clearer picture of her duties as commissioner while in Sarawak," said Khaw on the sidelines of the 7th Annual South East Asia National Human Rights Institution Forum (SEANF) in Kuala Lumpur.

Penan fact-finding mission

Khaw's fears and Lasimbang's plan to seek clarification in Kuching stems from the fact that the ban on her entering the state was imposed on her when she was on a Penan fact-finding mission.

This, in the view of both Suhakam officials, would be no different from the national inquiry the commission plans to carry out in Sarawak as well and covered under the "detrimental activities" cited in the so-called lifting of the ban.

In Dec 1966, Lasimbang was refused entry when she tried to land at Miri Airport and had leave by the next available flight to Kota Kinabalu.

She was issued with a standard Notice of Refusal of Entry under Section 66(1) of the Immigration Act 1959/1963.

This is a long list of persons banned from entering. It includes prostitutes, bankrupts and those seeking to overthrow a lawfully established government.

In a background paper for the media explaining the Sarawak ban on her, Lasimbang said that she was in the state in 1994 as part of a team of NGOs following up on a police report lodged by the father of a girl, a Penan, allegedly raped by a member of the Police Field Force in the Upper Baram and two mysterious deaths among the Penan who were involved in fighting off the timber companies encroaching onto their ancestral land.

Despite that ban, Lasimbang was able to catch the state authorities napping thrice and entered Sarawak in late 1994 and twice in 1995 without any incident.

The story is that the Immigration computer systems were down on those occasions and she was therefore able to enter the state with her status undetected.

She enquired in 2000 about the possibility of passing through Sarawak as part of a government delegation on an overland trip to Kalimantan. She was advised that the ban on her had not been lifted and that she should apply six months in advance for such permission.

'Immigration laws abused'

Lawyers in the know say that the Immigration laws is not only being abused against Malaysians from Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia entering the state.

The same laws are also being used to prevent Sarawak activists from travelling abroad.

The lawyers pin the abuses of the Immigration law on the ruling elite in Putrajaya propping up local proxies in Sarawak for two self-serving reasons.

Firstly, to delay if not prevent the secession of the state from Malaysia; and, secondly, to ensure that the 31 parliamentary seats in the state remain the "fixed deposit" of the ruling federal coalition.

In return, the local proxies have a carte blanche to do as they please in the state.

  Suaram disappointed

Meanwhile Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) said it was disappointed that the Sarawak state government had set conditions for the removal of the entry ban for Lasimbang.

In a press release it said there have been many cases of Sarawakians prevented from travelling abroad and activists from Peninsula Malaysia barred from entering.

The NGO asked how could the concept of 1Malaysia be promoted to claim that we are a nation when citizens are denied their freedom of movement abroad and even more ironic, within the country.

Suaram acknowledged that Sarawak has a different set of immigration rules from Peninsula Malaysia as a result of an agreement signed during the formation of Malaysia in 1963 which gives the state exclusive control over who enters the state.

It's concern was that it was being abused by the Sarawak state authorities to stifle dissent.

"In many instances, no official reason is given. Most of the individuals only find out that they have been blacklisted when they are stopped at Immigration Department checkpoints or fail to get their passports renewed.

"Most of them were informed informally by officials, that their being blacklisted is due to their involvement in "anti-logging activities" or pertaining to the protection of Sarawakian forests, resources and indigenous peoples' rights," said the statement.

Suaram called on Suhakam to conduct an inquiry on this matter, and demanded the Sarawak state government recognise the rights of Malaysians to freedom of movement and stop blacklisting individuals from entering the state.