Malaysians scared of outsiders – Suhakam
KOTA KINABALU: The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) has identified fighting against xenophobia among Malaysians and Sabahans as their game plan to address the stateless people issue.
Suhakam acting chairman Jerald Joseph said it was very clear that the people of Sabah and Malaysians in general were afraid of outsiders.
“In Peninsular Malaysia, if there is a robbery, people will immediately think it involves foreigners but in the Malaysian prisons, most are Malaysians, so it doesn't tally,” he said.
He added that hence, it was important for the Malaysian government to change the perception of its people.
“In our schools, we must inculcate that respect is a Malaysian culture and that we need to treat them (stateless and foreign immigrants) as human beings,” he said.
Speaking to reporters at the workshop on statelessness in Sabah: ‘Documentation essential towards human rights protection' workshop held at the Hilton Hotel near here, Jerald stressed that it was important that the issue of stateless people in Sabah be addressed.
He added that not many people dared thread on the issue, including politicians.
“We have invited members of parliament (MPs) and state assemblymen because they need to resolve this since there are stateless people at all constituencies,” he said.
He also said the Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Panglima Shafie Apdal, when met by Suhakam, had expressed that resolving stateless people would be a win-win as the government would then know where these people were, and this would be good for our security. “Right now, we don't know.” Addressing statelessness in Malaysia, and namely Sabah, will resolve issues such as the provision of education to the stateless children and detecting disease outbreak, if any, since people with stateless status will more often shun going for treatment for their illnesses hence endangering themselves, their families and the community around them.
He went on to remind that the stateless people are providing labour for Sabah and the entire country.
With regard to the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Suhakam and the Human Rights Commissions of Indonesia and of the Philippines, Jerald said they would have a two-year action plan to address the issue in the three countries.
He explained that the action plan would include working with the respective anti-corruption agencies of each country.
“Our hope is that in two years, we will find a way to resolve this. This is our framework,” he said.
He added that he also hoped that Sabah could make policy directions to resolve the statelessness issue in the state.
Yesterday's workshop was attended by non-governmental organisations, academicians and a politician.