Extracted from Malaysiakini

Activists protest entry ban by Sarawak

Fauwaz Abdul Aziz
Sep 14, 07 6:43pm

Sarawak immigration regulations are being abused to deprive some Malaysian citizens of a most basic right - freedom of movement within and from their own country, Suaram alleged today.

Separate immigration rules for Sabah and Sarawak were formulated in 1963 as part of agreements with Kuala Lumpur that gave the two state governments control over who enters the states and to protect the rights of the local communities.

However, Suaram claimed that the rules are being used to prevent Sarawakians from traveling abroad as well as those from the peninsula from entering the state because of their anti-logging activities.

Making the case today at the Human Rights Commission, Suaram urged Suhakam to act against the “abuse of state power” and to press the Sarawak government to respect the right of its citizens to freedom of movement.

Abuse of state autonomy

Suaram director Dr Kua Kia Soong, a recent victim of this ruling said the Sarawak government’s abuse of its immigration powers is a reflection of who it welcomes into the state and who it treats as persona non-grata.

Kua was among a seven-member Suaram delegation that met Suhakam commissioner Dr Chiam Heng Keng at the commission’s head office in Kuala Lumpur to submit a memorandum on the matter.

Kua has been an active campaigner against the Bakun Dam project in Sarawak and was a member of the fact-finding mission to enquire into the conditions faced by indigenous peoples displaced from the Bakun area to Sungai Asap resettlement camp in 1998.

Kua, principal of New Era College, was denied entry into Sarawak late last month when he went to attend a graduation ceremony of teachers in Kuching and Sibu who had attained the college’s Diploma in Education.

“We are seeing the abuse of [Sarawak’s] state autonomy - against those who show concern for the Sarawak environment and the state’s indigenous peoples. In the case of Bakun, the abuse was against those who showed concern as it was in the interests of taxpayers throughout the country,” Kua told Chiam.

‘Who else is privy?’

“Such people are being excluded from (traveling throughout) Malaysia, whereas the tycoons who go to ‘rape’ Sarawak forests are praised as ‘towering Malaysians’”, he added.

Kua said he had only renewed his MyKad identification card in Kuala Lumpur a month before his travel to Sarawak.

The fact that he was stopped after his MyKad was screened at the Kuching Airport raises question of what other information was encrypted into his MyKad and who else was privy to his personal details.

“Who else have they (the federal government) shared the information with? The American government? Credit card companies?” he asked.

Also present at the meeting was Selangor-based developmental activist Tan Jo Hann (left), who raised the irony of him being denied entry into Sarawak in 1999 when an Indonesian journalist accompanying him was allowed in.

Tan was barred a second time from entering Sarawak in 2001.

He challenged the government to charge him in open court if the ‘wrongs’ he had committed by being an activist for Sarawakians warranted the violation of his right to freedom of movement.

“What charges do they have against me? Inciting riot? Terrorism? What is it? Tell us, so that we can defend ourselves,” he said.

At the same time, a number of Sarawakian activists are barred from leaving the country to attend key international meetings.

Gara Jalong (right), an activist for indigenous rights, was barred from going to Thailand to attend the Asian Peoples’ Pact meeting in 1994.

His passport has since expired and his application to renew it in 1995 has been refused without any reasons given.

“I don’t know what wrong I have committed against our country,” Gara told Chiam.

Another Sarawakian, Wong Meng Chuo (left), who has worked with forest communities and forest issues, was stopped in 1992 from attending the United Nations’ Conference on Environment and Development in Brazil.

Although he was eventually allowed to attend the conference, Wong was unable to renew his passport upon expiry in June 1995.

It was only after Suhakam intervened that Wong was able to renew his passport in 2001 - six years after it had expired.

Also at the meeting was former Suaram director Cynthia Gabriel who, on Aug 18, 2003, was denied entry into Sarawak. She was told that her name had been on the ‘blacklist’ since 1998.

To get ‘all sides’

Gabriel described as “harassment” the constant delays and questions she has to answer whenever she seeks to go abroad.

Chiam promised to convey the memorandum to her Suhakam colleagues for deliberation. The commission will also seek to get “all sides” of the issue before deciding the recommendations on the matter.

Experiencing a similar situation earlier this week, Coordinator for the Centre for Orang Asli Concerns Colin Nicholas was stopped for five hours at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) before being allowed to board a flight to Bangkok en route to a conference in Nepal.

Although Nicholas - who missed his 4:10pm flight on Monday - was allowed to board the next available flight three hours later, he was told this was only due to the LCCT immigration chief's "discretion" to do so.

"I was told the computer system still lists me as being barred from leaving the country," Nicholas told Malaysiakini when contacted earlier.

Nicholas has been barred since 1998 from entering Sarawak because of his anti-logging activities.