There have been some positive developments in addressing the issues of refugees and undocumented workers in the country, said Amnesty International (AI).

AI's campaign coordinator Josef Roy Benedict warns the authorities, however, that unless substantial and concrete efforts are taken, we may see a repeat of the tragedies of the 2002 mass deportations, which include the death of three children from unhygenic conditions and the rape of a 13-year old girl.

Benedict said AI welcomed the government's announcement in October that it would provide official identity documents to Burmese Rohingyas, as well as its apparent responsiveness to concerns that refugees, especially Achenese civilians fleeing the conflict in Indonesia, who were often arrested without recourse to assistance from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

"In November, the Inspector General of Police Mohd Bakri Omar actually responded to our letter (dated Oct 12, 2004) expressing our concern. This is the first time in about five years that they've actually responded to us," he told reporters at a press conference at their office in Petaling Jaya.

"This shows that the government is finally recognising that there is a human face to refugees. We welcome these measures and support them."

However, said Benedict, such measure have to be followed by more substantial and comprehensive steps to address the human rights of refugees and undocumented workers, particularly because the personnel and structures in place for the mass deportation exercise slated for January 2005 are inadequate to prevent serious human rights violations such as those committed in a similar operation in 2002.

"Over 300,000 migrant workers left Malaysia during the crackdown and severe overcrowding was reported in departure ports, during transportation and in many of the country's immigration detention centres, especially in Sabah," he added.

"In apparent contravention of international standards on the treatment of detainees, unsanitary conditions and inadequate provision of food, clean water and health care during the deportation process were reported to have contributed to the deaths from various treatable illnesses of scores of deportees, including at least three children," he continued.

"Given the scale of the proposed 2005 detentions and deportations, Amnesty International fears that similar violations of the rights of detainees may re-occur," he added.

Grave risks

In particular, said Benedict, the impending deportation exercise pose risks of "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment during arrest, detention and through punishment under the Immigration Act," as well as risks that "particularly vulnerable groups, such as women and children, may suffer other human rights violations, including denial fo access to adequate health car in detention."

In the 2002 expulsion, a 13 year old girl was found to have been raped by three policemen while in detention in an immigration centre.

Further investigations showed the teenager to have been Malaysian and not Filipino as initially suspected by immigration authorities.

Benedict also warned that the planned deportation exercise would see individuals charged under the Immigration Act in a manner that is not be fully consistent with international standards for fair trials and without examining the individual circumstances of undocumented migrant workers.

Deputy Home Minister Azmi Khalid was reported in the media to have said that the authorities will go all out in January to deport an estimated 1.2 million undocumented workers by employing the services of more than half a million civilian volunteers from the People's Volunteer Corps and Rukun Tetangga, a neighborhood watch programme.

Proper training

Commenting on Azmi's statement, AI coordinator K Shan urged that they be properly trained and that arrests and deportations are conducted with due respect for human rights and the rule of law.

Any complaints of abuse during the exercise should be "promptly, independently and impartially investigated," he added.

The immediate imperative of the government, however, was to halt current plans for mass deporations and take measures to protect that fundamental rights of refugees as well as documented and undocumented workers, he said.

He added that there should also be guarantees that "all those seeking asylum have full access to a fair and satisfactory procedure to determine their refugee status."

Shan said indiscriminate deportations must be avoided by ensuring that "any person whose expulsion is being considered has her or his case individually examined in a fair and transparent procedure where she or he has the possibilty to submit reasons against expulsion and has the possibility to have her or his case reviewed should an intial decision be negative."

Other measures that would alleviate any potential abuses, he added, include the ratification and fulfillment of such international conventions as the UN's International Convention on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, the Convention against Torture, as well as the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.

Shan also recommended that the government should also ensure that the the requirements stipulated under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as the UN Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women are adhered to.