International human rights bodies interference is not needed
05 Feb 2023 09:29am
Human rights body like Komnas HAM have no rights to question the raid by Immigration Department of Malaysia at Nilai Spring, Negeri Sembilan on last Wednesday - FILE PIC
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Lawyer Norman Fernandez said as a sovereign country, Malaysia has their own laws to deal with the issue, and external parties including human rights bodies have no rights to interfere.
"Isn't Malaysia a sovereign country? We have our own law, and human rights bodies outside of Malaysia have no rights to question and interfere with this country's affairs," he said to Sinar on Saturday.
On Wednesday, Negeri Sembilan's Immigration Department (JIM) detained 67 illegal immigrants in an raid at Nilai Springs.
Negeri Sembilan Immigration Director Kenneth Tan Ai Kiang said the raid was a result of a one month intelligence comducted by the department where a total of 11 men, 20 women, 20 boys and 16 girls foreign, aged between two months to 72 years old, were arrested.
The illegal settlement has turned into a village with school facilities following the neighboring country's education syllabus and was equipped with several generator units as an electrical power source.
The raid however was criticised by the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) who claimed the raid did not comply with the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination againts Women (CEDAW) and Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC).
Norman, who has been an active observer of the Rohingya issue since 2015, stressed that the human rights body from Indonesia should not busy themselves by reprimanding Malaysian authorities, but instead think of a solution of how to bring back their citizens who are currently living illegally here.
"The human rights body are aware that their citizens that were detained are illegal immigrants.
"They should come up with the best way to bring them home rather than being a coordinator who gives support and facilities to continue living here illegally," he said.
He also reminded that Malaysia can no longer put up with the influx of illegal immigrants as it will create a bigger issues in the future.
He also said raids on illegal settlements like the one in Nilai Spring needs to be intensified to prevent another Bukit Malut 2.
"It is time for Malaysia to be strict and insist that these foreign governments bring back their citizens who are living illegally here, instead of issuing documents to 'legalise' their existence in the country," he stressed.
Norman also chastised Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) who is seen to priortise these foreigner's interest instead of the people and the country itself.
"It is time for the government to give SUHAKAM a clear signal to not interfere in the authorities affairs in dealing with the illegal immigrants issue, under humanitarian reasons," he said.
