Refugees beaten at detention centre

Posted by Web Administrator

Thursday, 22 October 2009 07:37am

© Malaysian Mirror (Used by permission) KUALA LUMPUR – Human rights group Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) said it has received disturbing information that officers from the Sri Lankan Embassy had assaulted a group of refugees at the Pekan Nenas immigration detention centre in Johor. In a statement here, Suaram coordinator Temme Lee said four representatives from the embassy arrived at the centre at about 11.30am Tuesday and forced a group of Sri Lankan refugees to sign agreements for repatriation. He said the refugees at first refused and the embassy people started beating and kicking them until they signed the agreement. Suaram has written to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Immigration director-general Abdul Rahman Othman to express its outrage and condemnation over the treatment of the Sri Lankan refugees. This is an article quoted from the Malaysian Bar Official website. Is Malaysia a country which upheld human rights? Why the refugees can be treated in that way? The acts done seriously infringed Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This era is a globalization era which one country cannot practise its own barbarian law which is not complied with the Public International Law. Yes, the binding force of Public International Law isn't that strong, but please do not forget the those are the universal principles which should be followed.  I would like to urge the government look into this incident seriously. And I believe that this is not an isolated case in Malaysia.