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Kuala Lumpur, 5 September 2002 - The Malaysian government, including the Sabah state government must be accountable and responsible for the deaths, the abuse, the horrific conditions at deportation or detention camps that have even pushed mothers to sell their own babies for survival.

The government, in particular the Home Ministry was well aware of the consequences of such actions of mass raids, hunting down of migrant workers like criminals and the mass deportation exercise. The 1995 expose of the conditions of the camps and the deaths that occurred brought to light how conditions in the camps caused lives and created vulnerability. Again, a similar state of affairs emerged in 1998, during the Ops Nyah II operations, following the 1997 economic crisis. Yet today we continue to abuse, torture migrants and rape the women.

According to interviews conducted with deportees by various organizations in the Philippines and in Indonesia there is increasing emerging evidence of sexual abuse and violence and that women were selling their babies in order to enable others to live. The report states that at least seven policemen in Tawau have been making detained Filipino women as sex slaves. The leader is a policeman identified as Azri. The women were taken out of the detention cell or area and taken to a separate room where they were raped or were made to be like sex slaves especially to police personnel. Some of the women returned to the detention area with some food as form of compensation.

This was exactly the same kind of situation that the women related to us in 1995. Women detainees were taken out of their block in Semenyih camp, taken to a room at the Administrative block and raped by policemen or immigration personnel. Till today, eight years after being mercilessly raped by our enforcement personnel, the women suffer the pain, the stigma and humiliation. Many of them are single mothers today as their husbands have deserted them. They are considered as 몍nclean and used�. Their lives have been destroyed. Who pays the price?

In mid - July, Tenaganita뭩 representatives visited Tawau. We met with a very big number of children who had been left as orphans. Some had been locked up in police stations and others in camps. The children pointed to the healing scars of beating they had got while in the police lock ups. They had been beaten, kicked by the police with boots when they asked for their parents. What crime did these children commit to get this form of abuse? Many of the children were also covered with sores arising from the conditions in the camps. The parents had been deported but the children left behind. It was unclear of what would happen to them. One young person told us that she had come to Sabah when she was just one year old. It was the time when the Sabah government welcomed Muslim Filipinos during the Moro liberation movement뭩 resistance. She had grown up in Sabah, gone to school and now has started to work in Sabah. Sabah is her home. She asked," Where will I go to in the Philippines? This is my home and my life is here."

More than 50,000 people were brought to Sabah in the 1970뭩 and later as well in the 1980뭩. Many of them were issued identity cards. Many voted in elections. The politicians who came into power knew very well that these people were 몆hantom� voters. But to the refugees and migrants, Sabah was a refuge, a new homeland for them. And today, as the Sabah elections draw near, the identity cards are ruled as fake and not acceptable. Many of them have been here for twenty years or more. And suddenly, they are no more valid or needed. They are now seen as a problem. Is this not a blatant abuse of power? How do we then make ourselves, as citizens of Malaysia and the government of the day accountable for the lives of these thousands of people with their children? Is this what Malaysian values is all about?

The continuous denial by the authorities over such acts of violence and abuse fuelled by acts of omission to rectify the situation, has only made us inhuman, racist with no respect for fundamental rights of women, children and people. How is it that we have such large numbers of undocumented migrant workers in the country with an easy flow through our borders? It is Corruption at all levels of our society involving various stakeholders from recruitment, employment and enforcement. The consequences of corruption on this very vulnerable group is now realized in deaths, rape, sexual violence and sale of babies.

The Malaysian government by making a unilateral decision has also brought about this unacceptable situation and crime against humanity. Migration has a regional dimension where resolutions to the problems arising from this process must be dealt in partnership with the sending countries. There has to be a regional framework based on international standards and principles to deal with undocumented workers and irregular migration. Concerns about security must not turn into xenophobic actions against migrants. Such a regional agreement signed well ahead of any form of enforcement could have saved lives and arrested abuse and violence. In this context, governments of the Philippines and Indonesia need to be proactive and not apologetic. Effective mechanisms have to be set in place to control outflow. It is only when all governments and we recognize the migrant worker as a human being with rights and dignity, can we develop long term effective solutions. The right to stay and the right to move within and across borders and live in dignity are fundamental to human civilization. This fact needs to be recognized by all governments.

Therefore we urge the Malaysian government to continue the moratorium on deportation until effective agreements are signed with all countries involved with respect for fundamental rights and principles. A regional dialogue, in the spirit of ASEAN collaboration has to be initiated by the Malaysian government to develop a regional framework of understanding. This initiative should bring about multilateral agreements and a regional mechanism for the recruitment, employment and reintegration of migrant workers.

The Malaysian government must immediately provide sufficient food, water and health care to detainees and migrants held at the camps. Priority must be given to women and children. The government must open up more centers to reduce overcrowding and organize a systematic and rights based approach to deportation.

We further urge SUHAKAM, the Malaysian Human Rights Commission to send a fact finding mission to the holding centers including Nunukan. SUHAKAM should also work in close collaboration with the Human Rights Commissions of Philippines and Indonesia for a comprehensive investigation. This should be conducted with urgency and constructive recommendations made.

We also call upon the international community to respond to the calls for intervention by the migrant workers. We hope the United Nations Office of the Human Rights Commission and the UN Special Rapporteur on Migrant Rights will investigate the violations and ensure that the rights of people are respected.

It is indeed clear that Malaysia will continue to rely on migrant workers to sustain its economy. This new wave of deportation and the harsh immigration laws are just another ad hoc policy of a reactionary government. If we want a well-trained and mobile labor force, then it must have a long term solution that has a regional framework built on international standards and principles. This could start within the Asean mechanism that would reduce vulnerability, increase accountability and transparency both for the receiving country and the country of origin of the migrant labor force.

Signed:

Dr. Irene Fernandez
Director, Tenaganita.