MALAYSIAN police arrested a young Bangladeshi national on Friday who spoke in an Al Jazeera documentary aired on July 3 criticizing the government over its treatment of undocumented immigrants. A senior Malaysian Immigration official said the arrestee’s work permit has been cancelled and he would be deported and would not be allowed to go back.
The arrestee in a WhatsApp message before he was nabbed said he didn’t commit any crime or lie about the fact. He had only talked about the discrimination and maltreatment because he wants to be treated fairly with dignity – all migrant workers to be treated with dignity.
The victim hails from a poor family at Narayangonj where his father works in a garment factory. His arrest has left the family to immensely suffer without his remittance to feed the family and bear medical cost of his sick mother. It is shocking that our young people are going abroad for jobs and facing such harsh treatment. But until our country has competent leaders to create enough jobs the situation can hardly improve. We have a totally corrupt system in which rich are grooming their children in plenty but the poor’s children are facing abhorrent treatment abroad.
The young man has rightly said protesting discrimination and exploitation can’t be a crime. It is one’s inalienable human rights and plainly speaking such views can’t be treated as defamation of sedition. The AJ documentary ‘Locked Up in Malaysia’s Lockdown’ basically showed Malaysian government’s ill-treatment of migrant workers and harsh detention of undocumented workers during the pandemic by a movement control order. We believe the young man could not have guessed the consequences of taking part in such AJ programme in the foreign land but his arrest also can’t be fairly justified just for speaking the truth.
We must say Malaysia is a friendly country and such event should not cause dent to our excellent bilateral relations. We understand the boy has not any political motive in speaking out his frustration and ask the Malaysian government to release the young man immediately. It should also take measures to ease the condition of undocumented migrants in the country.
