Eadie Nor Faizal Othman, deputy director for the Immigration Department’s Operation, Investigation and Prosecution unit, told reporters on the sidelines of a talk on policy framework for refugees yesterday that the department did not simply disturb such communities.
He said it only conducted raids and arrests because they were working “the wrong jobs”.
“United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) cards are not proper documents. We recognise them as refugees because they have the card, so act like one.
“When you work in places that you shouldn’t be in, then we take action,” Eadie added.
He said the department understood the issues such communities faced and wouldn’t purposely arrest and deport them.
“Even if we wanted to send them back, where is their original country? We understand the human rights element here.”
Refugees and foreign workers are frequently subjected to detainment and arrest under the 1959/63 Immigration Act and deported. Many who stay under the radar resort to illegal work in dirty, dangerous and difficult (3D) jobs.
Despite having UNHCR cards, refugees and migrants are prohibited from working in Malaysia under current immigration and employment laws. Refugee children are not allowed to enrol in public or government schools.
In July, authorities including the Immigration Department arrested thousands of migrant and illegal workers with no documentation in what was perceived as one of the largest crackdowns in recent years.
The Ops Mega 3.0 exercise came under heavy fire, with some 100 groups representing migrant worker communities and civil society organisations issuing a joint statement calling for an immediate moratorium on the crackdown.
Eadie said the Immigration Department generally acts on information it receives from the public with regard to raids.
“When issues come up on social media, TV or the internet and go viral, we do assessments to see whether these complaints are valid, then we just go… aside from (acting on) complaints. That is why before we didn’t go and raid, but now we do.
“We wouldn’t simply go,” Eadie added when asked to confirm if this was the standard operating procedure for immigration raids.
“Agents and informants are available everywhere, so many parties approach the immigration. It’s not just the department that gathers information, it also depends on our officers. We know about the potential so we are on standby sometimes.”
He added that since Malaysia had yet to ratify the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees 1951, the Immigration Department was not obliged to recognise concerns by migrant workers that they did not have documentation.
The 1951 Refugee Convention is a United Nations multilateral treaty that defines a refugee and sets out the rights of individuals who are granted asylum and the responsibilities of nations that grant asylum.
The convention sets out which people do not qualify as refugees, such as war criminals, while building on Article 14 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights which recognises the right of persons to seek asylum from persecution in other countries.
A refugee may also enjoy rights and benefits in a state in addition to those provided for in the convention.
The Pakatan Harapan-led government promised to ratify the convention, legitimise the status of refugees, protect their rights in accordance with international standards, and address the Rohingya crisis and issue of transnational human trafficking.
Earlier during his presentation at the National Consultation on Comprehensive Policy Framework for Refugees at a hotel here, Eadie revealed statistics that showed a total of 1,519 children under 18 are currently in immigration lock-up.
Of these, 474 are Indonesian and 380 are from Myanmar, while 136 are Rohingyas. The majority are from Asean countries.
Asked why the overall figure was relatively high at 232 more than the year before, and why children were being detained, Eadie said this was because their parents had been arrested and immigration officers “couldn’t leave the children without proper care”.
Asked how the numbers could be reduced, Eadie said the bigger picture was on “sending a clear message” to all parties that foreign labour could not be hired without proper vetting in place, adding that some employers generally hired them illegally.
“The best way is, don’t let the children be detained… Don’t employ (their parents) to get some benefits and neglect their welfare.”
On the issue of bribery within his department, which he had spoken on earlier, Eadie admitted that it was an issue in the civil service. However, he said there were only a few rotten apples that had been sorted out so far.
He stressed that officers were not allowed to accept gifts and must not bribe or accept bribes.