A DAP parliamentarian has slammed the Immigration for letting 155 Uighur refugees simply slip past their grip to hide out in the capital city unnoticed.

 

Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng was responding in a statement to reports of the refugees being found hiding in a condominium in Kuala Lumpur.

 

Reuters yesterday reported the Immigration Department raided two apartment units in Taman Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday and discovered the illegals from China’s Xinjiang province.

 

They were all crammed into the two units, with 76 of them being children.

 

Lim said the report was "shocking", noting that they were not hiding in some remote interior of the country but in the heart of the capital, what more in a condominium.

 

"This matter raises plenty of questions about the integrity and competence of our Immigration officers and the security forces," he said.

 

He said Prime Minister Najib Razak's government must take tough action in view of this serious breach of security in a time when concerns over terrorist activities worldwide were on high.

 

"When the security forces should be on high alert, how did it happen that illegals could so easily escape and furthermore, hide quietly in the heart of the capital?"

 

'Act against Immigration officers'

 

Lim said the government should probe and take action against the Immigration Department for the continuous security breaches and the ease of human trafficking in the country.

 

He added the department should be probed by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in the same vein the Customs Department was probed previously.

 

He noted that Malaysia is already in the tier 3 watchlist of the 2014 Human Trafficking Report as a country prone to human trafficking.

 

"There are questions about the Immigration Department's integrity," said Lim.

 

"A disciplinary action against the department seems to be the best way at the moment, just like how the MRT Corp CEO resigned following a fatal construction site accident," he added.

 

He said that at the very least, some individuals from the higher management of the department should be suspended. 

 

"Maybe Peninsula Malaysia needs a security zone like the one in Sabah (Esscom) to ensure that the safety of our borders is ensured," he quipped.

Suaram: Don't deport to China

Meanwhile, human rights groups Suaram urged the authorities against deporting the Uighurs back to China as that may put their lives at risk.

 

"Although not a party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the Malaysian government is still bound by the principle of non-refoulment of international customary law and should not deport persons to places where they may face persecutions.

 

"Whatever the allegations against them, they should have the right to trial and their case should be heard and adjudicated by the judiciary.

 

”The Immigration Department should not deport them without the decision of the court," it said in a statement today.

 

Suaram also appealed for the United National High Commissioner for Refugees to intervene and determine whether the Uighurs qualify for refugee status.