The government is still studying possible amendments to the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA) and several other preventive laws, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said today.

hishammuddin hussein home ministry 140409 talking He denied recent reports claiming that the government was considering abolishing the controversial Act, while remaining non-committal on its position on the issue.

“We’re looking at what (has been) said before and to get stakeholders to come on board. We’re nearly there, and it’s (the proposed amendments) not something new,” he told a press conference after meeting senior members of the national ex-police officers association.

The debate on the ISA in Malaysia has gone on for decades, with more recent efforts centred around the government’s plan to amend the law, along with other preventive detention legislation, as a knee-jerk reaction to sustained public and political pressure calling for its abolition.

The proposed amendments to the ISA, Dangerous Drugs Act (Special Preventive Measures) 1985 and Emergency Ordinance (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) 1969 were initially scheduled to be tabled in Parliament in July last year, but there has been little movement on the issue.

NONE Hishammuddin declined to comment when asked what the government intended to do next, saying only that it understood that it had to “get it right the first time”.

“We are looking at all possibilities. I know you want something more concrete, and you will get something more concrete when it comes,” he said.

Refugee swap plan

On the scuttled refugee swap deal between Malaysia and Australia, Hishammuddin said that bilateral support for the plan shows that the two governments are “on the right track” in dealing with human trafficking.

He described the refugee swap as a solution that was “outside the box”, but noted that it was now up to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard to make the necessary arrangements to get the plan back online after the Australian High Court ruled against it .

“If it’s against the law of Australia, and Prime Minister Gillard feels they need the political will to amend their laws to accommodate that, by all means... Malaysia is more than willing to accommodate that,” he said.

The Australian High Court recently ruled that the government cannot send asylum-seekers to be processed in another nation unless that country is compelled to adequately protect them.

Australia is a signatory to the UN Convention on Refugees, but Malaysia is not.

Despite the ruling, Gillard has again made a move to revive the failed plan, saying that Malaysia offered “the best answer” to Australia’s long-standing issue with asylum seekers and those smuggling them.

Hishammuddin reiterated Malaysia’s readiness to proceed with the plan, whenever Australia is ready.

“If the laws are in place and (they are) able to proceed with it, we will. Otherwise, there are many measures we are taking, such as the biometric (system), the 6P programme... we are dead serious about sending a clear message to smugglers. Do not look at Malaysia as a safe country of transit for trafficking,” he said.

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