The government’s call for a massive crackdown on illegal immigrants in Sabah may lead to gross violations of human rights.

Expressing this concern in a letter addressed to the Malaysian government, Indonesian-based Migrant CARE, said past crackdowns by the Malaysian authorities have shown that such drastic measures often resulted in “humanitarian disasters”.

Migrant CARE is one of the 21 signatories of a memorandum sent to the government expressing their deep concern over the matter.

“In the massive 2002 crackdown, some half a million migrants left Malaysia en masse to avoid being arrested under enhanced immigration laws, which included whipping," said the memorandum.

“At least 100,000 migrants departing Sabah were left stranded in Nunukan (East Kalimantan) and Tawi Tawi (the Philippines) leading to a humanitarian disaster that included starvation and deaths.”

It also alleged that migrants had received degrading treatment, which resulted in many child deaths.

“Though we appreciate that a sovereign state has the legal right to protect its borders and to ensure that migrants are properly documented, we are concerned that the drastic measures and the massive scale of operation taken by the government in dealing with such a complex issue without proper study, planning and training will only be a recipe for massive human rights violations.”

Mass deportation won’t solve issue

The memorandum was to protest against Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak’s statement that a massive crackdown would be launched to flush out illegal immigrants from Sabah and deport them to their home country.

Najib made the statement following complaints from various quarters, including Sabah deputy chief minister Joseph Pairin Kintingan who said the influx of migrants - predominantly Indonesians and Filipinos - in the state had become a threat to the state’s security and peace.

Migrant CARE however believes that mass deportation will not rectify the problem and called for more careful and reasonable measures in dealing with the issue.

Among others, the memorandum called on the government to set up a royal commission to study the various issues and concerns in Sabah and to specify actions that comply with international human rights and humanitarian standards if it wanted to solve the matter.

It also demanded that the government declare an amnesty for a reasonable period of time for immigrants to voluntarily repatriate.

“The government should also prepare proper short, medium and long term management plans for foreign immigrant labour, including the setting up of efficient and ethical channels through which repatriated immigrants can return to Sabah to work,” said the memorandum.

The other 20 organisations which signed the memorandum are local NGOs including Suaram, Bar Council and Tenaganita.

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