LFL brands Hamzah racist over refugee 'big-headed' comment
Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has lambasted Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin, branding him racist over comments on Rohingya refugees in Malaysia being “big-headed”.
“What kind of ministerial criticism is 'big-headed'? Are there no 'big-headed' Malaysians? Are we all angels that we can chastise an entire race?
Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has lambasted Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin, branding him racist over comments on Rohingya refugees in Malaysia being “big-headed”.
“What kind of ministerial criticism is 'big-headed'? Are there no 'big-headed' Malaysians? Are we all angels that we can chastise an entire race?
“By definition, racism is harmful or unfair things said or done based on the belief that their own race makes them more good or moral.
“To brand an entire race in the way the minister did amounts to racism by any definition,” said LFL coordinator Zaid Malek in a statement today.
Hamzah’s comments were sparked following a circulated video of Rohingya children found begging and acting aggressively towards motorists around Cheras.
He warned the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) cardholders to not become “big-headed” and think they are above the law.
He added that while the government sympathised with the situation faced by refugees, any actions that caused problems to the country would be dealt with.
Zaid said Hamzah should have instead utilised his position as the home minister to offer Rohingya refugees the necessary protection and assistance that they need instead of giving scathing comments concerning the entire group.
“The minister should be well aware that there is no existing framework that safeguards the physical and economic wellbeing of refugees in Malaysia, which makes them extremely vulnerable to exploitation or to resort to whatever means they can find to survive.
“They are painfully aware of their legal status as refugees in Malaysia by the daily hardships they have to endure on a day-to-day basis and do not need any reminder of it,” he said.
Zaid added that Hamzah should have been more concerned if the children in the viral video were being exploited and explored the underlying causes that led the children to beg.
“If the government truly wants to help the Rohingyas on a humanitarian basis, the first thing that they should do is treat them like the victims of their terrible circumstance as escapees from genocide and not frame them as targets of societal hatred in Malaysia,” he said.
Since the inception of the viral video, many leaders have taken opposite stands on the matter, with Pengerang MP Azalina Othman Said saying they should not be blamed when the country failed to prevent them from being used as beggars.
Meanwhile, MCA Beliawanis (Wanita MCA Young Women Bureau) chief Ivone Low Yi Wen labelled the children “provocative, arrogant and ungrateful” despite the kind treatment provided by Malaysians.
However, Low received backlash over her comments by activists who believed that it led to a much larger issue of xenophobia.
