This week, Indonesian NGO Sovereign Migrant Workers Coalition (KBMB) published a report titled “Like in Hell: Conditions at Immigration Detention Centres in Sabah, Malaysia”. Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin’s reaction was to say, “If I knew someone was going to die and not place them in detention, I would be great.” He then went on to say anyone can die anywhere.
Perhaps Hamzah could try paying attention to the horrendous conditions in detention centres highlighted in the report to prevent such deaths from occurring. The KBMB report found deliberate neglect of sick detainees and delay in providing timely medical services to prevent detainees’ illnesses from worsening, resulting in deaths. Foreigners in detention centres are treated less than human – recall videos and photos in June 2021 of 156 undocumented migrants squatting and being sprayed with disinfectants as though they were animals, despite health experts’ outcry, saying that spraying in such a manner was unscientific and degrading to the migrants.
As Home Minister, Hamzah Zainudin holds immense power. Under the Ministry of Home Affairs umbrella include the Immigration Department, the Royal Police of Malaysia (PDRM), the National Anti-Drugs Agency (AADK), the Prisons Department, the National Registration Department (NRD), and the Registrar of Societies (ROS), just to name a few. Some of these agencies literally hold people’s lives in the balance.
And how has Hamzah used this power? To quote Uncle Ben from Spiderman, “With great power comes great responsibility.” This is a non-exhaustive list of how Hamzah Zainudin has failed as Home Minister, in the process disrupting many lives even today:
Refusing to pursue custodial deaths in police lockups and immigration detention centres seriously: Last year, in a written answer to Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto’s Parliamentary question, Hamzah provided a breakdown of the 105 people who died in custody between 2020 and 2021. Investigations were said to be underway, but has there been follow-up?
Allowing the Government to appeal to overturn the High Court’s landmark ruling to allow Malaysian mothers equal rights to pass on citizenship to their children who were born overseas. As the case proceeds, some of the mothers have reported more difficulties with the NRD. Different branches require different document requirements and procedures that are not applied to Malaysian fathers. This is a contravention against the existing High Court ruling.
Failing to acknowledge the seriousness of the personal data leak belonging to 22.5 million Malaysians that were put up on sale for USD 10,000. Today, Hamzah announced the NRD data would now be limited to 44 agencies. Have all the 44 agencies’ IT and cybersecurity systems been updated accordingly to prevent such incidents from occurring again?
Failing to address statelessness seriously, instead opting for media events. According to the UNHCR website on statelessness in Malaysia, 12,078 applications for citizenship were submitted by the NGO Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (DHRRA). Instead of holding citizenship award events, the Home Minister could easily end the plight of many stateless people without them having to resort to the courts or attract media exposure.
Whether Hamzah’s failures as Home Minister are mere incompetence or deliberate, we need to pay closer attention to the activities of the Home Ministry. We need a better Home Minister – one that actually understands the weight that the agencies under his Ministry carries. Malaysians deserve better, and so do the many oppressed and stateless people in this country.