Burma Human Right History

Organs of the United Nations and major international human rights organisations have issued repeated and consistent reports of widespread and systematic human rights violations in Burma.

The United Nations General Assembly has repeatedly [1] called on the Burmese Military Junta to respect human rights and in November 2009 the General Assembly adopted a resolution ""strongly condemning the ongoing systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms" and calling on the Burmese Military Regime "to take urgent measures to put an end to violations of international human rights and humanitarian law."[2] International human rights organisations including Human Rights Watch [3] and Amnesty International.

Violations of human rights claimed include claims that there is no independent judiciary in Burma. That the military government restricts Internet access through software-based censorship that limits the material citizens can access on-line.[5][6] That Forced labour , human trafficking , and child labour are common.[7] and the rampant use of sexual violence as an instrument of control, including systematic rapes and taking of sex slaves as porters for the military.

A strong women's pro-democracy movement has formed in exile, largely along the Thai border and in Chiang Mai. There is a growing international movement to defend women's human rights issues.[8]

The Freedom in the World 2004 report by Freedom House notes that "The junta rules by decree, controls the judiciary, suppresses all basic rights, and commits human rights abuses with impunity . Military officers hold all cabinet positions, and active or retired officers hold all top posts in all ministries. Official corruption is reportedly rampant both at the higher and local levels."[9]

Brad Adams, director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, in a 2004 address described the human rights situation in the country as appalling: "Burma is the textbook example of a police state. Government informants and spies are omnipresent. Average Burmese people are afraid to speak to foreigners except in most superficial of manners for fear of being hauled in later for questioning or worse. There is no freedom of speech, assembly or association."[10]

Collected by Salai Sang Hre

Malaysia gets poor marks for human rights

KUALA LUMPUR: To ensure it stays in control and in power, the Malaysian Government has turned its back on promises to protect people’s rights, said Human Rights Watch.

In its report released Thursday, it said that when Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak took over as prime minister in April 2009, he promised to respect the fundamental rights of the people but his government has failed to undertake the systematic reforms needed to fulfil that pledge.

It said the Government harassed the Opposition, improperly restricted the right to peaceful expression, association, and assembly, and mistreated migrants.

When it comes to human rights, Malaysia is more about rhetoric than reality, it said.

“The Malaysian Government appears to be more interested in pursuing short-term political advantage rather than safeguarding rights,” said Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson.

The 612-page World Report 2010 reviewed human rights practices around the world over the last year.

It said the release of a number of Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees early in Najib’s term was a positive development, but stressed that Parliament should repeal the ISA and other repressive laws including the Police Act 1967, which it said, was used to justify a “violent crackdown” on a citizens’ march against the ISA.

The report also said that following the impact of the Internet on the last general election, the Government has tried to rein in non-traditional media, putting them and bloggers under closer scrutiny.

It also voiced concern over continued government control of the traditional media and called for the Printing Presses and Publications Act to be rescinded.

The report also criticised the Government for failing to distinguish refugees and asylum seekers from undocumented migrants and for its use of an “ill trained, abusive civilian force” (Rela) to crack down on undocumented migrants.
It said detainees were kept under inhumane conditions causing several of them to die last year while dozens were infected with leptospirosis, a disease spread by animal faeces in unclean water.

“How many more migrants have to die in detention before Malaysian policymakers wake up?” said Robert­son.

The report also criticized Malaysia for continuing to crimininalise adult consensual sexual behaviour including sodomy and said it is about time the government brought its criminal code into the 21st century.

by Simon

Immigration to act against employers harbouring illegal foreign workers

By LESTER KONG

PETALING JAYA: The Immigration Department will begin a nationwide crackdown from Feb 15 on thousands of employers believed to be harbouring or employing illegal workers.

The operation will be carried out with the help of police and Rela.

Currently there are about 1.8 million approved foreign workers in the country, and the department be-lieves there are at least an equal number of illegal ones.

Immigration director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman said the department was already meeting with employer associations and groups before the deadline to “educate” them on the immigration laws and policies for hiring foreign workers.

“From Jan 5, we have been having dialogues with associations such as the Malaysian Employers’ Federation and the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers,” Abdul Rahman said in an interview yesterday.

He said employers should be more responsible and understand that the Immigration Act prohibited keeping workers with expired visas.

“The opportunities for work here and willingness of some employers to keep illegal workers are to be blamed. It’s all about supply and demand,” he added.

Abdul Rahman said no employers had been charged lately as it was difficult to gather enough evidence to enable prosecution.

“To build a proper case, we would need the punch cards, salary slips and contracts between the employers and their workers,” he said.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak told Indian journalists that more than 39,000 Indian tourists, mostly from Chennai, had abused their visa-on-arrival (VOA).

Abdul Rahman said most of the 39,000 “missing” Indians were believed to be in the country’s economic hotspots of the Klang Valley, Penang, Perak and Johor Baru, which had many employment opportunities.It was reported that 75,645 out of 248,939 foreigners issued with VOAs between September 2006 and September 2008 had misused their visas.

They were from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Sri Lanka, Myan-mar, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Abdul Rahman said enforcement was also hindered by the easy assimilation of the southern Indians to Malaysian society.

He added that the three countries with the most number of “missing” citizens in Malaysia were India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, but was unable to furnish any figures.

Tourism Malaysia figures placed arrivals from India at 590,000 in 2009, a 7.1% increase from 2008. Most of them cited sight-seeing, visiting friends and attending conferences as their reasons for coming here.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Employers’ Federation executive director Samsudin Baradan said the federation had warned its members not to retain or hire workers whose visas had expired.

However, Samsudin said it was understandable that some companies were hiring and harbouring workers illegally.

“It is not easy to get foreign workers because of the costs and procedures involved,” he said.

He added that the federation

had been pleading with the department to be more consistent in its policies regarding foreign workers.

“The policies keep changing. We only come to know the changes through the media.

“The department should brief our members before implementing such policies,” he said.

“It’s like you can do it today but tomorrow, you cannot. It is ad hoc, it is a knee-jerk reaction,” he said.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.aspfile=/2010/1/14/nation/5466539&sec=nation

For example, Samsudin said many companies were caught by surprise by an April 2009 policy that forced them, instead of their workers, to pay the levy of about RM1,800 per worker per year.

Malaysian Authorities Resume Selling Refugees

VOCR

3rd January, 2010

Kuala Lumpur

According to a confirmed source, a long controversial about refugee deportation and selling to fishing boats and plantation sites at Thai-Malay border has already been resumed by Malaysian immigration personnel and human traffickers. After the US senate Foreign Relation had released the record which stated human trafficking in Thai-Malaysia border, the selling refugee process and refugee deportation in the border has been paused for a while. However, before the criticizing has finished, “Refugee for sale” program had been started by the authorities.

On 24th December, 2009, two Chin refugees formally known as Zam Tuang(33) and Kam Khua Tuan (25) were sold into the hands of human traffickers by two Malaysian immigration officers at the border. The two victims and their three colleagues were arrested by the police at their workplace in Penang on 13.11.2009. The first time they all were detained in Police lock-up but three days later, the police sent them to Juru detention camp.

On 26th November, both victims appeared to court and convicted for two months of imprisonment due to being undocumented. After the trial had finished, both victims were transferred to Pakoksena prison and they spent almost two months. When their imprisonment period was about to finish, both victims were transferred back to Blantik camp. After fifteen minutes, they arrived to Blantik camp, two immigration officers with one van came saying they sent them to a wrong place and forced them to be aboard into the van.

“When the two officers told us to be aboard into the van, I though that we will transfer to another camp. But we headed to Thai-Malaysia border instead of going to another detention camp. I was very scared as I heard that many refugees had been sold with brutal human traffickers and forced them to work on fishing boats by the gang” said Mr. Zam Tuang.

The two victims said that the immigration officers and human trafficker met at a remote village and the human trafficker (agent) (believed to be Burman because he has Burmese name and he can speak Burmese fluently) waiting for them. When we arrived to the village we were dumped at the roadside and we saw the human trafficker paying the money with two immigration officers.

“When we arrived to the agent house in the forest he forced us to call our relatives and asked them to bring RM 2600 to be released. The agent known as Aung Naing Oo also told us that if your relatives did not bring the money, I am going to sell both of you” they added.

Luckily, both victims were released after three days by the help of their relatives and community and they can participate in New Year celebration with their relatives and community members. But they are worrying that the rest three detainees would also be sold back with human traffickers.

Before the Malaysian government has paused deportation into Thai-Malay border, many of Chin refugees were sold in the border. As a result, the human traffickers sold them on fishing boat and many women were raped.

By Salai C C