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Showing posts with label Refugee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Refugee. Show all posts

Tuesday 23 August 2011

Reviving our winning ways





Reflecting On The Law By Shad Saleem Faruqi

 As a nation, we will be celebrating our 54 years of independence. But, regrettably, the enslavement of our mind still continues despite the colonizer having long gone back home.

HARI Raya is approaching and so is National Day. It is time to seek solace in prayer and renew our resolve to overcome some persistent problems that are straining the social fabric.

Among these are the deterioration of inter-ethnic relations and the ascendancy of some shrill voices of discord that trumpet all that divides us as well as trivialise much that unites us.

However, on a positive note, this is the season to count our blessings, which indeed are many.

First, is the area of constitutionalism.

Though the cup is not full to the brim, it is not empty.There is enough in it to relish, cherish, protect and preserve.

The Constitution has survived the vicissitudes of race and religious politics. Despite many political and economic crises that could have torn other societies asunder, our Constitution has endured.

It has provided a firm foundation for political stability, social harmony and economic prosperity.

Second is the wondrous durabi-lity of political cooperation among the country’s racial and religious groups.

The coalition of 14 disparate political parties under a sometimes shaky, but nevertheless enduring, political alliance is perhaps the world’s longest surviving political arrangement.

In 1955, two years before Merdeka, it was built on a spirit of accommodation, a moderation of spirit, an absence of the kind of passions, zeal and ideological convictions that in other plural societies have left a heritage of bitterness and violence.

A similar rainbow coalition is emerging on the other side of the political fence and this raises hope for the eventual emergence of issue-based rather than race-based politics.

Third is the success of our economy and development plans.

These have positive implications for the realisation of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Consti­tution and for the success of socially ameliorative programmes.

Fourth, Malaysia has successfully used the economy to unite its disparate racial groups.

By encouraging entrepreneurship and tapping the genius of the minority communities to supply leadership on the economic front, the Government achieved twin objectives. It succeeded in developing the country and also gave every community a stake in the nation.

The fifth sterling achievement is that despite periodic tensions and racist and religious rhetoric, the country’s enduring and endearing inter-ethnic harmony has few parallels in the world.

Instead of creating a melting pot, Malaysia painstakingly weaved a rich cultural mosaic and an extraordinarily multi-faceted society.

The sixth outstanding feature of Malaysia is the peaceful and cooperative manner in which social engineering is being accomplished.

Unlike some other societies with a similar problem of identification of race with economic function and the concentration of wealth in the hands of powerful minorities, the Government did not expropriate the wealth of one community to bestow it on another.

It embarked on a pragmatic expansion of opportunities to give to every community its share of the economic pie.

Many aspects of this policy of social engineering have succeeded, though there is much scope for improvement.

A seventh remarkable feature of the country is the emancipation of women.

In the work place, in schools and in universities, women are easily outnumbering men.

In the professions, they are making their mark and increasingly moving into leadership positions.

Recently, the Constitution was amended to outlaw gender discrimination in the public sector.

Eighth, Malaysia is an exemplar of a moderate and progressive society that embraces modernity and democracy and yet accommodates the spiritual view of life.

The imperatives of modernity and the aspirations of religion mingle together.

This not to deny, however, that there are strong cross-currents of obscurantism in the last two decades that are posing a challenge to social harmony.

Ninth, Malaysia has successfully kept the armed forces under civilian control.

There has been no attempted coup d’etat and no “stern warnings” from military generals to the political executive.

Even in 1969, when law and order broke down in the Klang Valley, the National Operations Council was headed by Deputy Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak who called the shots with the army and police representatives in attendance.

Another remarkable phenomenon is that the extra-constitutional military-industrial complex, that behind the scenes dictates policy in many democratic countries like the US, has not been able to displace civilian control over military and industrial decisions in Malaysia.

Tenth, Malaysia has successfully used education as a tool of social engineering and upward social mobility.
Primary and secondary education is free and open to all irrespective of race or religion. Tertiary education is highly subsidised.

Though the Government is unable to meet the aspirations of all who seek higher education, the opportunities for upward mobility through higher education are exhilarating.



However, how far our tertiary educational system emancipates us from servile dependence on and mental slavery to Western education is another question.

As we celebrate National Day it must be remembered that the stains of cultural and intellectual imperialism do not end with the attainment of political freedom.

Freedom is a state of the mind and, regrettably, the enslavement of our mind still continues long after the coloniser had gone back home.

Most of our universities blindly ape European curricula and European paradigms.

We ignore the knowledge systems and traditions of the East.

Our books, syllabi and intellectual icons are mostly from the West. Our list of experts, external examiners and guest speakers are mostly European.

Towering personalities of our own region are shunned. Decades have passed, but our servile minds have not woken up to the damage done to our psyche.

While parochialism and narrow chauvinism are not called for, we have to take pride in our own heritage and draw sustenance from it before supplementing it with wisdom from elsewhere.

Nevertheless, as the commemoration day of our independence draws nigh, we must count our many blessings.

There is much in Malaysia’s struggles and successes that is worthy of emulation by friends and foes alike.

This is not to say that we should be complacent. As we celebrate 54 years of independence, our laws and institutions, our values and our views cannot remain impervious to the changes and challenges all around us.

In the realm of law and politics, there are always new challenges and opportunities that beckon the human spirit.

> Shad Saleem Faruqi is Emeritus Professor of Law at UiTM and Visiting Professor at USM. 

Related posts:
The true meaning of independence 
Malaysia still in pursuit of full independence 

Monday 25 July 2011

Australia and Malaysia sign 'refugee' deal






Human Rights Watch slams agreement to send 800 asylum seekers in Australia to Malaysia in exchange for 4,000 refugees. 
Demonstratrs protest against Malaysia's treatment of refugees and asylum seekers [Reuters]

Australia and Malaysia have signed a deal to send 800 asylum seekers in Australia to Malaysia in exchange for the resettlement of 4,000 refugees.

The 4,000 refugees are to be resettled in Australia over a four year period, with that country bearing the cost of their tranfer and settlement.

Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysia's interior minister, and Chris Bowen, Australia's immigration minister, formally signed the deal at a Kuala Lumpur hotel on Monday.

The 800 asylum seekers sent to Malaysia will be placed in a "holding centre" for six week before being allowed into the community, Hussein said.

From midnight on Monday, the next 800 asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat will not be processed there, but will be transferred to Malaysia, Julia Gillard, the Australian prime minister said.

The government said they will receive no preferential treatment in the processing of their claims or arrangements for resettlement.



'Dumping ground'

Ahead of the signing, Brendan O'Connor, Australian's interior minister, said the deal represents "an historic and innovative approach" to undermining the people-smugglers' business model.

"We want to treat people fairly," he told ABC Television, but refused to confirm a report that those shipped to Malaysia would be allowed to work.

However, the deal has drawn criticism because Malaysia is not a signatory to the UN convention on refugees.

"Australia is using Malaysia as a dumping ground for boat people it does not want and in the process walking away from its commitments to follow the 1951 Refugees Convention," Phil Robertson, the deputy director at the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, said.

"Human Rights Watch has publicly called on UNHCR to not endorse this agreement because this is a deal that would allow Australia, a country that has signed the Refugee Convention, to devolve its obligations to another country that has not signed the Refugee Convention.

"This would set the worst type of precedent and we’re concerned it could start a wider erosion of protection for refugees throughout the Asia-Pacific region."

The UNHCR is not a signatory to the agreement, however appreciates that both governments consulted with the agency.

"The UNHCR’s preference has always been an Arrangement which would enable all asylum-seekers arriving by boat into Australian territory to be processed in Australia. This would be consistent with general practice," the agency said in a statement.

"The critical test of this Arrangement will now be in its implementation both in Australia and Malaysia, particularly the protection and vulnerability assessment procedures under which asylum seekers will be assessed in Australia prior to any transfer taking place."

Protests against agreement

In Malaysia, demonstrators gather outside the signing ceremony to protest against the country's treatment of refugees and asylum seekers.

One demonstrator holds up a placard that reads, "Malaysia's immigration laws still don't recognise 'refugees' and 'asylum seekers' - where's the guarantee for protection?"

The Australian government, which has a policy of mandatory detention for asylum seekers until their claim for refugee status is resolved, is facing rising tensions in some of its detention centres over the processing of claims.

The migrants are held for months at Christmas Island detention centre, about 1,500 miles from the Australian mainland, and in other detention facilities.

About 200 people protested against the impending agreement outside Sydney's Villawood immigration detention centre on Sunday.

The immigration department said about 60 inmates were taking part in a peaceful protest at the Scherger detention centre in Queensland, with about 50 of these engaged in voluntary starvation.

 Source:
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