Malaysia and Burma plan migrant swap

The Malaysian government has said that it plans to “swap” detained migrants with Burma, causing concern among rights activists about the safety of those returning to Burma.

Malaysian Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein was quoted in the local press as saying the scheme will “help reduce the numbers [of migrants] in our detention centres.” Kuala Lumpur-based rights activist Pranom Somwong has said that serious problems over “transparency” with such dealings for both countries make the scheme “unacceptable”.

She raised questions about the safety of detainees, many of whom she believes would or should be classified as asylum seekers due to the deplorable record of the Burmese regime, and that many Burmese had fled for political as well as economic reasons.
Malaysia is a popular destination for Burmese seeking work and safety, with large numbers of ethnic Chin and Rohingya attempting to gain asylum in the country.

The Rohingya minority group from western Burmaare systematically discriminated against, with the majority refused even citizenship papers. Burma’s immigration minister, Khin Yi, told parliament recently that the Rohingya in the Maungdaw township of Arakan state are “assumed to be Bengalis … [who] have shared common religion, culture, appearance and language with their counterparts [in Bangladesh].”
Malaysian rights group Suaram meanwhile described the Burmese government as “tyrannical” and “undemocratic,” and condemned the scheme.

Malaysia is home to approximately 400,000 Burmese with around 87,000 recognised by the UN refugee agency, although Malaysia’s ongoing refusal to sign the 1951 treaty on refugees means many of these are still harassed by authorities. Human Rights Watch said last month that a pledge by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to do away with repressive emergency acts that include detention without trial must be followed through.
Pranom claims that few of the details of the deal are known. This is a problem that often plagues refugees and asylum seekers, with a lack of clarity on such schemes leaving migrants in a legal limbo.

Malaysia’s Bernama newspaper quoted Hishammuddin as calling for “cooperation” to make the “repatriation process run smoothly”. He also reportedly called for a joint working committee between the two governments. The Burmese labour ministry has recently sought to regularise management of the large numbers of Burmese who migrate for work.

Malaysia is dependent on migrant labour for its manufacturing sector but has faced criticism over its handling of migrants. In 2009 the US State Department downgraded the country to a Tier Three nation because of allegations that officials had taken bribes and sold detained migrants.

Little information as to who the Burmese would send back to Malaysia as part of the “swap deal” was made available. Few Malaysians are believed to be detained in Burma.

1.3 million registered illegals to be absorbed into five sectors

Source: BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR: Five employment sectors have been given the green light to hire 1.3 million illegal immigrants registered under the 6P amnesty programme to fill up job vacancies.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the five sectors were manufacturing, plantations, agriculture, construction and services, with 15 types of jobs available for them in the service sector.

"I'm confident that the 1.3 million unemployed illegals can be distributed among these five sectors, as I was told over 1.3 million workers are needed.

"Therefore, the 1.3 million who have registered will be placed in these sectors which Malaysians have no interest in filling up," he told reporters after a meeting with state immigration directors in Bukit Aman, here, today.

However, he said, job offers and distribution were not under his ministry's jurisdiction but the other ministries involved.

"Absorbing them into these sectors is an effort to balance out our economic needs, but it must be done accurately and according to what was outlined by the prime minister."

He said the 1.3 million illegals were part of the 2.3 million foreign immigrants who registered under the 6P programme.

"Some of the 1.3 million people had entered the country illegally, some had expired work permits, while others had entered using their passports but handed their passports to syndicates or their passports taken away by the syndicates.

"With the number of illegals registered, I feel that the process of absorbing those unemployed will become another Key Performance Indicator (KPI) to be implemented under the 6P programme," he added.
With accurate data to allow monitoring, he said, no problem would arise that could affect national security regardless of the number of foreigners in the country.

"The illegals cannot run away because the biometric registration system under the 6P programme has recorded their biometric data or thumbprints in the databank.

"By not going through the biometric process, I believe the flood of illegal immigrants into Malaysia can create a big risk, so the 6P programme is the best move to overcome any issue involving them," he said.

Hishammuddin disclosed that the programme's second post-mortem would be held tomorrow at a meeting to be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and to be participated by 14 ministries and agencies.

Among the important matters to be discussed at the meeting is whether the legalisation process will use the current illegal immigrant employment policy or consider the creation of a special policy for the process.
On Bangladesh's High Commissioner to Malaysia, A.K.M. Atiqur Rahman, who allegedly received threats after Bangladeshis in Malaysia were not allowed to use agents to register in the 6P programme, he said 24-hour protection and surveillance would be provided.

"I had spoken to him last week, and yes, he received threats from certain disgruntled quarters.

"With the cooperation of the Bangladesh High Commission, we have registered 400,000 of their nationals who entered the country legally or illegally," he said