Malaysia A Good Model Of Good Societal Relationship

BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 (Bernama) -- Malaysia provides a good model of how society would be able to live with various ethnic groups on the basis of trust and efforts to foster good societal relationship among the various communities.

United Nations (UN) Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information Kiyotaka Akasaka said Malaysia's emphasis on education and mainstreaming youth issues as a fundamental of the national development agenda was also pertinent as the host of the second annual Global Model United Nations (GMUN 2010) Conference which began today.

"I know that Malaysia has various ethnic groups, Malays, Chinese and Indians are working and living in harmony and you have been keeping this harmonious society with great effort played by the government, civil society and the people at large.

"Malaysia will also be able to provide the best opportunity and lessons learned and the history to the students coming from all over the world to address the questions of alliance civilizations.

"Education is given top priority in this country, education indeed has been the important agenda for the UN, we have been focusing our efforts on our partnership with the young people for educational programme, through various initiatives," he told a press conference on GMUN 2010 on Saturday.

Themed "Towards an Alliance of Civilization: Bridging Cultures to Achieve Peace and Development", more than 500 delegates aged between 18 and 24 would explore issues on the relationship of cross-cultural, globalization and changes of socio-economic conditions in the world, he said.

"The world still has so many problems, conflicts, ethnic cleansing, ethnic conflict, hatred, discrimination and bigotry based on race, languages and communities.

"We in UN have been trying to address this problems and we hope that students who are coming to this conference will be able to discuss among themselves so that they will be the partners of UN as diplomats, as businessman, as leaders of civil society and working together with UN," he said.

Akasaka hoped that the conference would act as a platform to develop a network of relationship among the participating youths and act as a channel for youths to express ideas, opinions and alternative solutions to various issues.

"We would like to introduce the roles and procedures which are like the real roles and procedures at the UN so that the best and brightest students chosen for this conference will be able to learn about the UN.

"We believe young people, students of university in particular are important partners of UN. Their creativity and imagination will be able to help the UN in addressing those global challenges like poverty reduction, human rights, peace and security," he said.

Asked about the achievement of the first GMUN Conference held in Geneva, Switzerland last August, Akasaka said the participants have been working together in various subjects.

"We have created our own website and believe we will be able to keep close contact with them so that they will be able to help us in addressing the important challenges," he said.

GMUN 2010, organised by the UN Department of Public Information, targeted the best youths and university-level around the world in a move to educate them about the work of UN.

University students from 53 UN member countries including 80 from Malaysia are participating in the five-day conference.

Life is no picnic for refugees, but local Rescue Committee holds one anyway

By Sonia Krishnan
Seattle Times staff reporter

Joseph Lal tried to express what he could in English.

America is great, he said, smiling as dozens of recently arrived refugees mingled Saturday at a welcome picnic in Burien. He's happy to be here. He has an apartment and a job. He hopes he can stay forever.

But when asked why he wanted out of his native country of Myanmar, Lal paused. Explaining the political strife and human-rights abuses was beyond his reach. So he made it simple.

"The army is fighting with the rebels," said Lal, 26. When hungry civilians took food rations from the rebels, "The army beat us."

Lal first fled to nearby Malaysia, then decided to seek asylum in the U.S. He arrived in Seattle in November, leaving behind his parents, two brothers and a sister.

Lal's story was similar to many refugees who turned up during a rainy summer afternoon at Seahurst Park. The picnic was hosted by the local office of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), an organization that helps refugees rebuild their lives once they land in Seattle.

The nonprofit assists about 550 people — who are granted asylum by the U.S. government — every year. Most come from Myanmar and Bhutan, but many are also from Nepal, Somalia and Eritrea, said Bob Johnson, director.

When the refugees arrive, he said, they are excited to be here but at a loss on how to create a life for themselves. So IRC caseworkers find them housing in Tukwila, and assist them with food and clothing. Finding jobs and settling children into schools come next, he said.

The refugees rely on the IRC intensely for the first six months, then start to acclimate after they find work, he said. IRC connects them to entry-level jobs in restaurants, hotels, and factories.

Even when someone comes with a higher education, "We encourage them to take any kind of employment because it's better than welfare," Johnson said.

The summer picnic is one of the IRC's ways to introduce refugees to American culture.

Saturday, smoke from the charcoal grills wafted above the picnic shelter, as people piled salad, hamburgers and veggie hot dogs on their plates.

Women in traditional Bhutanese clothing watched the waves roll back and forth on Puget Sound and nearby, young Nepali boys played soccer.

To Lal, the scene was pure American, something he wouldn't be able to do in his hometown of Kalay.

He does miss it though. He talks to his parents by phone, he said, but it's hard to be so far away from home.

For now, he said, he has to look ahead and be grateful for his job making wall panels at a company in Magnolia, even if it does take him an hour and a half to get to work everyday by bus.

He focuses on how well his employers treat him, he said. And he hopes that one day, his family will get to see what life is like over here.

Detention depots to be jointly managed by Immigration and Prisons depts, and Rela

The Star Online

PUTRAJAYA: The 13 depots housing illegal immigrants will now be jointly managed by the Immigration and Prisons departments, together with Rela, in an effort to boost and strengthen their administration and management, particularly in the area of security.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Lee Chee Leong said the decision was made after the special committee to enhance the management of the depots, chaired by secretary-general Datuk Seri Mahmood Adam, met Wednesday.

He said joint management of these depots would take effect immediately.

"The meeting has decided that Prisons Department will be in charge of security and prison management of these depots, Immigration will be responsible for documentation and immigration issues while Rela will look at the external security of these facilities," he said in a statement.

The depots involved are Simunjan and Bekenu in Sarawak, Pekan Nenas (Johor), Machap Umboo (Malacca), Lenggeng (Negri Sembilan), KL International Airport (KLIA) and Semenyih (Selangor), Langkap (Perak), Juru (Penang), Belantik (Kedah), Tanah Merah (Kelantan), Ajil (Terengganu) and Kemayan (Pahang).

On Sunday, 20 Afghans, who were being held as victims of human trafficking, fled the detention centre in KLIA around 3am after cutting security grilles to open two gates at the depot.

Twenty Immigration officers in charge of the detention centre were suspended pending investigations.

Both Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein have warned of harsh action if investigations showed it was an inside job or the work of syndicates, including a "change" in the Home Ministry secretary-general and Immigration director-general.

On March 27, 12 Afghans and four Myanmar nationas also escaped from the depot using the same modus operandi.

Home Ministry Secretary-General and Immigration DG given ultimatum

NST News

PUTRAJAYA: Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein today gave an ultimatum to his Secretary-General, Datuk Seri Mahmood Adam and Immigration Director-General, Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman following the escape by 20 Afghan detainees from the KL International Airport (KLIA) Immigration Detention Centre early yesterday morning.

Hishammuddin said if the officers on duty during the incident and the monitoring system and enforcement were not functioning or implemented effectively at the depot, both of them faced the risk of being transferred.

"I'm totally dissatisfied...whatever system that we create, whatever emphasis that we give, whatever laws that we amend, if the work of my officers at the KDN (Home Ministry) and Immigration Department are not up to the mark, then such issues will persist.

"If it is only one case, maybe we can say it's an error...we may forgive. Two or three cases, we may say negligence. But if they occur repeatedly, I can no longer listen to the excuse that there are too many people at the detention centre," he said.

He said this when approached after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Illegal Immigrant Workers chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, here today.

In the incident at about 3am yesterday, all the detainees, aged between 25 and 40, were suspected to have cut the grilles of the two cell doors before escaping.

Previously on April 27, 12 Afghan and four Myanmar nationals aged between 22 and 48 had escaped through the grilles which had been cut off before escaping by climbing the perimeter fence of the same detention centre.

Commenting further, Hishammuddin wanted stern action to be taken to resolve the problem so that it would not be repeated. He did not deny that the depot might have weaknesses, but they could no longer be cited as the reason for the detainees to escape.

Meanwhile, Immigration Director-General Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman said he would accept the decision if he were to be transferred following the incident. He said the criticism made by Hishammuddin was justified because the incident affected national integrity.

"My fate is as stated by the minister. 'If something is not moving than the Director General has to be removed'. I accept this fact.

"It means that I was not functioning or I did not discharge my responsibility effectively as desired by the minister and government," Abdul Rahman said. - Bernama

Crackdown on undocumented workers 'no surprise'

FreeMalaysiaToday
By Patrick Lee

KUALA LUMPUR: The recent massive government crackdown on undocumented foreign workers and their employers was not a totally unexpected operation, say several NGOs.

According to a recent Bernama report, more than 600 employers were arrested for various violations of the Immigration Act. About 3,700 operations had been conducted by the Immigration Department in the first half of the year.

Oppressed People's Network (Jerit) was not impressed with the Immigration Department's action. Its coordinator V Selvam said the crackdown was merely a “straightforward approach” to solve a nagging problem.

He told FMT that a better solution would be to provide illegal workers with proper documents.

“If these workers were to be documented, then it would be easier to control them, and they won't be on the run.

"In the past, amnesties would be granted to illegal workers. They would be given a certain period where they can choose to go home or (continue to) work here," said Selvam.

“But it has been stopped now,” he said, speculating that amnesty might have been halted due to Malaysia's ailing economy.

Massive social problem

Tenaganita, a shelter for abused women, said the crackdown was supposed to have been carried out last year after an Indonesian maid was killed.

Said its programme director, Glorene Dass: “The authorities were supposed to perform spot-checks on employers then but it didn't take off. It could be something that they didn't want people to know about.

“In the first two months of the year, the government was planning to come down on undocumented workers,” Glorene told FMT.

“But many employers were not happy (with the decision), so they (the government) probably waited until after Chinese New Year before they launched the crackdown,” she added.

Another NGO, Research for Social Advancement, said the crackdown was nothing new. Its director, Richard Yeoh, said: “Every couple of years, it (crackdown) happens before things quieten down again.”

Yeoh said that there was very little control on the number of people being allowed into Malaysia and this had created a massive social problem.

“These foreign workers pay a lot of money to come to Malaysia. But when they get here, they are mistreated and lose their jobs. Eventually they become illegal immigrants,” he said.

Rojak system

Yeoh added that no number of crackdowns would resolve the situation. Instead, he suggested that labour outsourcing companies which supply foreign workers be strictly controlled.

Kuala Langat MP Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid feels the enforcement system is weak. “We can only resolve the problem if we enforce the laws strictly,” he said.

“If you look at our system, it is very rojak,” the PKR strongman said. “If one department wants to solve a problem, the other will not cooperate."

Abdullah also said there were about 1.9 million undocumented foreign workers in the country. "It's a very dangerous number," he said. "The number of undocumented workers has not reduced. It has been increasing day by day."