HRW urges M'sia to press Myanmar junta over abducted refugee family

Summary

• Human Rights Watch (HRW) urges Malaysia to reopen its investigation into the disappearance of Myanmar activist Thuzar Maung and her family, who were allegedly abducted from their Selangor home in 2021.

• HRW also urges Asean members and partners to pressure Putrajaya on the issue as well as on ending abusive treatment of refugees and migrants in Malaysia.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged the Malaysian government to press the Myanmar junta to release a refugee family allegedly abducted from Selangor two years ago.

HRW said Malaysia should immediately reopen an investigation into the abduction of pro-democracy activist Thuzar Maung, 48, her husband, and their three children from their home in Ampang, which may constitute a form of cross-border repression - a human rights violation by a country against its citizens abroad.

“The Malaysian authorities should publicly press Myanmar’s junta to free Thuzar and her family and investigate how this prominent refugee ended up in Myanmar.

"The Malaysian government is failing to protect refugees at risk, including children, and the role of Myanmar’s junta and possibly other governments needs to be fully explored and brought to light," Asia director at HRW Elaine Pearson said in a statement today.

Thuzar and her family were allegedly abducted from their home in Ampang Jaya, Kuala Lumpur, on July 4, 2023, in a fake police car.

At the time, Selayang MP William Leong, who is also the chairperson of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Human Rights, had urged the police to investigate the kidnapping allegations.

He said the lack of positive developments from the investigation would reflect poorly on the level of security in Malaysia.

Reopen probe

In its report, HRW requested that Asean members and partners urge the Malaysian government to reopen the investigation into Thuzar's disappearance.

They should also urge Putrajaya to end its abusive treatment of refugees and migrants, it added.

"Asean members and partners at the Kuala Lumpur summit should work together to bring an end to the horrific crimes of transnational repression in the region.

"Refugees like Thuzar Maung and her family should be safe from harm, and Malaysia and other countries need to act to deter further efforts by the junta to abduct and disappear Myanmar refugees," Pearson said.

Besides that, the report said Myanmar authorities had issued an arrest warrant for Thuzar under Section 52(a) of the Counter-Terrorism Law and Section 512 of the Criminal Procedure Code for supporting the opposition's National Unity Government, which the junta declared a terrorist organisation.

This was done by the Myittha Township Court in Mandalay, a city in northern Myanmar, it added.

According to the report, the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and other UN experts wrote to the Malaysian government on July 21, 2023, requesting an urgent and transparent investigation into the family's disappearance.

In a response dated Sept 27, 2023, the Malaysian government said, "No enforced or involuntary disappearance evidence was found at the crime scene, house area, and no witnesses' evidence could support the theory that Thuzar and her family were abducted".

On Feb 1, 2021, the Myanmar military took power in a coup that overthrew its democratically elected government.

Since then, HRW said the junta has arrested an estimated 30,000 activists, journalists, humanitarian workers, and others.

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