Friday June 27, 2008 MYT 4:16:18 PM

Amnesty International: Set up Royal Commission on Sabah migration issue

PETALING JAYA: A royal commission needs to be set up to study the migration issues in Sabah and be acted upon with greater emphasis on human rights and humanitarian concerns, said Amnesty International Malaysia.

In a statement Friday, its campaigns coordinator K. Shan said the simplistic and arbitrary action to crackdown irregular migrants in Sabah would only elevate the ongoing human rights and humanitarian concerns in the state to a serious crisis level.

"Amnesty International, in its monitoring of the situation in Sabah, has recorded an existence of a very high number of asylum seekers and refugees who have fled from the conflict ridden state of Mindanao.

"We have also recorded a high number of stateless people and migrants, including children, who have lived in Sabah for more than 10 years," he said, adding that the unilateral action by the Government may result in serious human rights violations.

Therefore, he said, a royal commission must be set up immediately for specify actions, in compliance with human rights and humanitarian standards, to be taken in an utmost transparent and accountable manner.

"We urge Malaysia, as a member of Asean and the United Nations Human Rights Council, to demonstrate strong commitment in upholding the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights," he said, adding that the country must also be responsive to crises happening in the region.

He said Amnesty International had raised serious concerns with regards to the Government's mass expulsion.

"These include the risk of mass expulsion without examining the individual circumstances of undocumented migrant workers and stateless people, the risk of cruel inhuman or degrading treatment during arrest and detention and the risk that all detainees, especially women and children, may suffer other human rights violations," he said.