Archive for 2007
Interviews
In News and Opinion on December 5, 2007 at 11:48 pm
NST 26/06/07
RELA, or the People’s Volunteer Corps, is pushing for a separate law to govern its operations. Home Affairs Ministry parliamentary secretary Datuk Paduka Abdul Rahman Ibrahim said Rela would then function as a department with greater authority.
http://www. malaysiakini.com/news/67858
Q&A: We act within the law
Andrew Ong
May 29, 07 12:26pm
Ever since the People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela) was granted the power to arrest illegal immigrants in 2005, there have been a slew of accusations that some personnel have abused their powers – in some cases, through allegedly violent means.
In an interview, Rela director-general Zaidon Asmuni insisted that personnel “strictly adhere to” standard operating procedures (SOP) and act according to the law.
Malaysiakini: What are the requirements to join Rela?
Zaidon Asmuni: Ordinary Malaysian citizens above the age of 16 who hold an identity card are eligible to enrol as volunteers. We can use our powers to recruit personnel, but this only happens during a period of emergency.
Malaysiakini: What is the screening process for recruits?
Zaidon Asmuni: Nowadays we don’t have to screen. Anyone can join and become a Rela member. If we were to conduct a screening exercise, it would take the police some time (to do so), because they have their own priorities. Those who join will receive a membership card within two weeks. It’s as simple as that.
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In Refugees, Rela Raids on August 20, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Published August 20, 2007 by Kaowao News
Mon refugees in Malaysia are seeking protection following the recent raids on refugees and migrants in Kuala Lumpur .
According to Piung Chan, a social worker from Mon Refugee Organization (MRO) based in Kuala Lumpur , 33 Burmese nationals were arrested in the early morning hours on August 17, 2007. Those arrested included a group of 9 Mon nationals and Chin and Burmese asylum seekers as well.
Among those arrested is an eight-month pregnant woman, Ms. Mei Korn Thaw, who is recognized by the UNHCR office as a refugee and who is reportedly unwell. “Her unborn baby and the girl both are in poor health, she has an appointment to see the doctor on August 23,” said Piung Chan.
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In Migrant Workers, Rela Raids on August 18, 2007 at 11:15 pm
By John Burton in Kuala Lumpur
Published at FT.com: August 6 2007 17:31
In the early hours of a recent Monday morning, trucks belonging to Malaysia’s People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela) suddenly surrounded a neighbourhood in the shadow of Kuala Lumpur’s Bukit Bintang area, home to some of the city’s glitziest hotels and shopping malls.
The Rela members, dressed in green uniforms and tan berets, banged on doors and ordered the occupants outside, many of them foreigners working in menial jobs at nearby hotels and restaurants.
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In News and Opinion, Refugees, Rela Raids on August 17, 2007 at 6:17 am
From the International Herald Tribune
Published: August 6, 2007
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Some 150 U.N.-certified Myanmar refugees have been detained during weekend raids on illegal immigrants in Malaysia, a rights group said Monday, as it called for a a halt to the indiscriminate arrest of refugees.
The Myanmar refugees were among 550 immigrants hauled up in separate crackdowns by immigration officials and the volunteer security corps RELA in central Selangor state, said the Myanmar Ethnic Rohingyas Human Rights Organization in Malaysia.
Children and pregnant women were among the 150 detained, all of whom were recognized by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the group’s president, Zafar Ahmad, said in a statement.
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In Migrant Workers, Refugees on August 17, 2007 at 6:12 am
A new report, “We Built this City: Refugees from Burma at Risk in Malaysia” has been released by Project Maje. The report reveals the plight of refugees from Burma who have worked on Malaysia’s massive infrastructure projects but gained no gratitude for their labor. “We Built this City” highlights the persecution currently being inflicted on the refugees by a highly controversial government-sanctioned anti-immigrant vigilante force called Rela, which has been hunting down, beating, robbing and imprisoning foreigners in Malaysia. “We Built this City” includes background on the refugees in Malaysia, interviews with refugee construction workers from Burma’s Chin State, and links to articles on the Rela raids, as well as a letter writing action campaign.
“We Built this City: Refugees from Burma at Risk in Malaysia” can be found at www.projectmaje.org
Project Maje is an independent information project which has distributed information on Burma’s human rights and environmental issues since 1986.
In Link Roundups on July 11, 2007 at 7:55 pm
In News and Opinion on July 11, 2007 at 7:46 pm
RELA appears to be on track for becoming an official government department with paid volunteers enforcing the law. The article reports there are 350,000 RELA members throughout the country. 350,000 members given powers of search, seizure, and arrest, without any background checks and no training to speak of. How many police officers are there in Malaysia, and what exactly are they for?
Rela members to receive RM9 million in allowances
Published 2007/07/11 in The New Straits Times
BERNAMA
IPOH, Wed.:
The People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela) has received an initial allocation of RM9 million as allowances for some 100,000 members.
Parliamentary Secretary to the Home Affairs Ministry, Datuk Paduka Abdul Rahman Ibrahim, said the allocation received yesterday was part of the RM32 requested by Rela this year for its members who were involved in operations.
“The operational allowance is at the rate of RM4 per hour for ordinary members and RM5.80 per hour for officers to a maximum of eight hours per day, as approved by the government in March,” he said.
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In Migrant Workers, News and Opinion, Refugees on July 9, 2007 at 3:33 am
Published 24 January, 2007 at Aliran
The volunteer corps’ crackdown on undocumented foreigners is not a war on terror; it is a war on defenceless migrants, observes Romany.
Like George W Bush’s ‘war on terror’ waged by the United States, an unseen, little-publicised ‘war on undocumented immigrants’ is being waged in Malaysia. This war, waged under cover of darkness, is hidden from public view and much information about it lands in the dead-news boxes of the editors of mainstream newspapers.
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In Migrant Workers, News and Opinion, Refugees on July 9, 2007 at 3:29 am
Published March 15th, 2006 at Malaysia Media Monitors’ Diary
The senseless attack by RELA personnel on defenceless Indian migrant labourers waiting outside their own embassy for their problems to be sorted out by representatives of their home country is something that should be deeply embarrassing to Malaysians and the Malaysian government. It says so much about Malaysian attitudes towards foreigners, even those legally in the country. This is an announcement to the international community that we are ‘anti-foreigners’ – especially if they are not rich, professional, economically sound or from a G7 nation.
These downtrodden people had already been cheated out of their life-savings by unscrupulous conmen posing as employment agents, exploited by similarly conscienceless profiteering employers who feel no tinge of guilt at using what is little more than slave labour. And now, these honest but helpless workers have been further victimised by the authorities. Why have they been put into detention? What wrong have they done in seeking help from their High Commission officials?
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In News and Opinion, Press Statements on July 9, 2007 at 2:37 am
Published Friday, July 6, at Aliran
Rela’s reported move (New Straits Times, 26 June 2007) to push for a law to legitimise itself and its operations has triggered alarm bells for human rights in Malaysia.
Rela, which has become internationally notorious for its indiscipline and human rights abuse against defenceless migrants and refugees, is now seeking to legitimise itself by proposing new laws to enable it to operate as a lawful government department operating independently of the Home Affairs Ministry and the Immigration authorities.
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In Press Statements on July 5, 2007 at 4:34 pm
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL MALAYSIA PRESS STATEMENT
5 July 2007
Amnesty International Malaysia expresses serious concerns over the
recent news highlighted in the media on the 26 June 2007 that the Home
Affairs Ministry plans to restructure the civilian volunteer body RELA
into a separate department with greater authority and even powers to
source out its own funding.
The ministry stated that RELA’s main task once the bill is passed will
be to catch illegal immigrants and to help the immigration and police.
The Ministry is planning to table the Bill on RELA in parliament this
year which will make RELA as a full fledge law enforcement department.
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In News and Opinion, Refugees, Rela Raids, Urgent Appeals on July 5, 2007 at 4:28 pm
July 05, 2007
In an ardent appeal to the Malaysian government, the Chin Human Right Organization has urged it to call a halt to the crackdown on Myanmar refugees. Instead it has asked Malaysia to cooperate with the office of The United Nation High Commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) to protect the inherent rights of refugees and asylum seekers.
The Malaysian government is violating basic human rights by its relentless raids targeting the refugee community. To make matters worse there are reports of torture and abuse of hapless refugees in detention camps and consequent deportation, said CHRO’s urgent letter of appeal.
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In News and Opinion on July 4, 2007 at 4:56 am
The following editorial presents some interesting facts regarding crime rates.
In his 2005 analysis of the rise in crime in Malaysia presented at a police conference, ACP Amar Singh Sidhu claimed that the proportion of crime committed by foreigners was around two per cent of the total index crimes in Malaysia. Plus, on a per capita basis, foreigners on average commit about 3.8 crimes per 1,000 population. Malaysians on the other hand, commit 5.3 crimes per 1,000 population. So the problem lies not with foreign labour, but with local enforcement.
Brian Yap: What it takes to win the war against crime
The New Straits Times
July 4th, 2007
THE prevalence of crime, especially in urban areas, is understandably causing much concern these days.
Nevertheless, neither the surge in law-breaking nor the concern of the public is anything new. In the past few years, we have practically seen snatch thefts become part of city life. Almost everyone knows a victim, if they aren’t already one themselves.
It’s a sign of how bad things have become when having your bag stolen is considered a blessing, as some victims have been hurt or even killed in such incidents. Last month’s demonstration in front of the residence of the Johor Menteri Besar is testament to the frustration and helplessness ordinary citizens feel about this increasing sense of lawlessness.
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In News and Opinion on July 1, 2007 at 6:52 pm
Apparently, illegal immigrants = organized crime. Members of ‘crime syndicates’ surely would never obtain legal ID and travel documents before running amok in Malaysia.
From The New Straits Times Online
KUALA LUMPUR, Sun:
Police will use preventive laws to put away members of local and Singaporean crime syndicates operating in the south.
They will adopt the same measures now being used in Sarawak to fight organised crime.
The New Sunday Times learnt that officers from the state’s anti-vice, gaming and secret society divisions had been directed to mount operations against these syndicates.
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In News and Opinion on June 30, 2007 at 9:48 pm
Ever Rela to help was published Sunday June 10, 2007, in The Star Online. Reporter Shahanaz Habib speaks with Rela director-general Datuk Zaidon Asmuni about the people’s volunteer corps.
The full article is below the cut. Here are a few choice bits:
There have been a number of cases of abuse and Rela members stealing and hitting detainees.
To me, the number of abuses is very small compared to the number of operations. I have found the walloping of illegal workers is actually in response to something that happened. If they give full co-operation when we go into a rumah kongsi, I don’t think the Rela members will start hitting them “for fun”.
Does Rela check the background of members?
We don’t do that now because we want to encourage people to join us. If a person has a bad record, then we won’t take him and may send his name to the police. If we send in 475,000 names for the police to check, it would be too time-consuming. They have other more pressing priorities.
Here are some responses to story:
Wrong to give Rela power to detain illegals
“Anyone, whether employer or worker, has a right to challenge or question Rela members – especially if they come around without uniforms. If such questioning makes them angry, then I must point out that professional law enforcement involves accountability and responsibility.
It is a mistake to give Rela arbitrary powers to detain illegal immigrants. The amendment must be rescinded as it has no mechanism of accountability, disciplinary action and does not accommodate professional training catering to the new set of responsibilities.
It was a response to past and current populist, alarmist and xenophobic beliefs that illegal immigrants are flooding the country and taking away local jobs.”
Rela doing a great job
Rela really needs to address public concerns
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In Rela Raids, Urgent Appeals on June 30, 2007 at 7:01 am
SUARAM is informed that 228 asylum seekers and refugees from Burma were arrested in an operation by the Malaysian Immigration and RELA (People’s Voluntary Corps) raid today (25 June 2007). About 2.00am, the joint force raided the Chin Refugee Centre and Chin communities at Jalan Imbi and Jalan San Peng, Kuala Lumpur.
Most of the detainees are recognised as refugees by the United Nations High Commission of Refugees (UNHCR). Among them, 30 people are underaged, 5 pregnant women and 10 people who will be sent to United State of America tomorrow for resettlement. Chin refugee leader, P, was also among those arrested.
For the time being, the 10 refugees who will be resettled to USA together with P, have been released after pressure for Human Rights groups. Remaining 217 people had been sent to Semenyih detention camp.
SUARAM condemns the arrest and calls for the immediate release of all the arrested asylum seekers, especially those UNHCR refugee card holders and women. As an elected member of the UN Human Rights Council, the Malaysian government should respect the right of refugees in accordance to international human rights law.
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Myanmar Ethnic Rohingyas Human Rights Organization Malaysia (MERHROM) 