It appears that Hindraf Makkal Sakthi chairman Waythamoorthy Ponnusamy
is on the watchlist – generally considered the blacklist -- of the Security and
Passport Division of the Immigration Department.
His Malaysian passport, gathering dust in a
drawer at the Malaysian High Commission in London, expired late 2010.
Waytha wants the Malaysian authorities to issue
him with a new passport and apologise to him as well for “erroneously”
requesting the British Government to help them seize his earlier document.
Instead, to add insult to injury, the authorities appear to have since placed
him on the Immigration watchlist “to deny him a passport”. There has so far
only been an ominous silence from the Home Ministry on the demand for an
apology.
Foreign Minister Anifah Aman to take action
Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, in a text message
from Cambodia on Wed last at 2.42 am, disclosed that “I will inform him” when
queried on Waytha’s passport woes. He didn’t clarify who he meant by “him”. It
could mean the Home Minister or the Malaysian High Commissioner in London.
A check of Waytha’s MyKad No: 660716-03-5633
(obtained from him by text message) with website http://sspi2.imi.gov.my/Default.aspx drew the following response in less than one second: Sila rujuk kepada Pejabat imigresen terdekat.
Status: Sah pada waktu dan tarikh semakan dibuat. Masa semakan: 0 saat. (Please
refer to the nearest Immigration Office Status: Valid at day and time this
checking performed. Masa Semakan (Checking time): 0 seconds). The MyKad number
must be entered in the verification slot without the two dashes.
Tian Chua’s hypothetical question
Batu MP Tian Chua once tried not too long ago to
seek clarification in Parliament on Waytha’s actual status. His “hypothetical
question” did not make it past even the House Secretary who cited the Standing
Order in dismissing it.
If there are no immigration status problems, the
said website response will read: Keputusan Semakan: Tiada Halangan. Status: Sah
pada waktu dan tarikh semakan dibuat. Masa semakan: 0 saat. (Checking result:
No restriction. Status: Valid at day and time this checking performed. Masa
Semakan (Checking time): 0 seconds.)
The website, Semakan Status Kawalan Imigresen
(Verify Immigration Control Status), incorporates an electronic application
system which Malaysians to check their immigration status before applying for
passport and travelling
Interestingly, the Hindraf Chief’s MyKad is
still with Malaysian police who didn’t return the document to him after he was
released just before several other Hindraf leaders and activists and its legal
advisor, P. Uthayakumar, was held under the draconian Internal Security Act
(ISA). Uthaya is Waytha’s elder brother and pro-tem secretary-general of the
Human Rights Party (HRP) which bills itself as Hindraf’s political wing
although the movement is apolitical and has denied having any such links.
Generally, the blacklist is confined to
bankrupts, those owing the Inland Revenue Department or PTPTN (the National
Higher Education Fund Corporation).
Travel curbs violation of international law
It’s a violation of international law, human
rights and the UN Charter to place travel curbs on other citizens by denying
them valid travel papers to leave the country for any purpose whatsoever.
In the past, activists in Sarawak lobbying on
behalf of the Penan communities and against illegal timber logging, had been
turned back at the airports in the state while on their way to places in
Malaysia outside Sarawak or abroad to bring attention to the burning issues at
home.
It’s not known whether these activists had taken
the matter to Court.
Suhakam -- Malaysian Human Rights Commission --
activists, commissioners and members under watch have likewise been barred from
Sarawak. The most infamous example is that of Jenny Lasimbang, a Suhakam
commissioner from Sabah who replaced vice chairman fellow countryman Simon
Sipaun when his term expired. She was on the Sarawak immigration watchlist for
NGO activities before being appointed by Suhakam. She has since been allowed to
enter Sarawak on a case-by-case basis on behalf of Suhakam only and is
chaperoned around like in communist countries by a government minder.
Cases hanging over Waytha’s head
In the case of Waytha, he may have at least one
sedition case hanging over his head. He’s isn’t sure what’s the exact status at
the moment. He had previously expressed a willingness to face the charge or
charges, if any, upon returning home.
The charges, if any, may have since lapsed after
the United Kingdom accorded him political asylum and issued him with a UN
travel document in lieu of his Malaysian passport. The passport was seized by
British Immigration at Gatwick Airport on 28 April, 2008, as per a letter dated
17 March 2008 from the Malaysian Home Minister, when Waytha flew in from
Switzerland after briefing the UN officials there on the human rights situation
in Malaysia.
If the sedition or any charge/s had any basis,
the UK Government would not have accorded him political asylum but would have
instead denied him entry and deported him to Switzerland, his last port of
embarkation. If the Swiss authorities had refused him entry, he would have to
shuttle back and forth between Gatwick and Switzerland, refused entry at both
points, or stay at either Gatwick Airport or the airport in Switzerland as a
man wanted by no country.
International law which governs carriers as well
decrees that any person refused entry at a port of call must be deported back
to his last port of embarkation and not to his country if he has one.
Waytha returns seized passport
Waytha’s passport was sent to Imran Khan, his
lawyer in London, shortly after it was seized from him by British Immigration.
Imran, acting on his client’s instructions, returned
the passport to the Malaysian High Commission since it had been blacklisted in
the British Immigration and subsequently all European immigration systems and
that worldwide.
Again, Waytha had wanted a new passport and an
apology. The Home Ministry in Putrajaya refused on the grounds that the
passport had not expired and that no one could have two passports in his name.
Again, there was no response to the demand for an apology.
When Waytha enters Malaysia on Aug 1, as he
plans, he will be carrying only the UN travel document issued to him by the
British Government. This document allows him to travel to any country except
Malaysia. Should he travel to Malaysia with or without this document, his
political asylum status in Britain as a human rights advocate will be
automatically revoked.
Touch and go for plans to return Aug 1
It’s touch and go for Waytha in Malaysia come
Aug 1 when he arrives most probably with his wife, also a lawyer like him, and
his only child and daughter who have both been with him in London since late
2010.
The daughter, still in primary school, led the
Rose Rally in mid-Feb 2008 in Putrajaya, a month before the political tsunami
of Sat 8 Mar, 2008, and nearly three months after the spontaneous Indian
Uprising of 25 Nov, 2007 when 100,000 people took to the streets of Kuala
Lumpur in an unprecedented demonstration of unity and solidarity to witness
Hindraf’s handover of a Memorandum to the British High Commissioner and
addressed to Queen Elizabeth.
Waytha cannot be accused of entering his own
country illegally. He could be taken straight to jail and brought to Court for
the Judge to make a determination on his status. He could also be held in jail,
where bail has been denied, if there are any charges pending against him.
Britain would not take it too kindly if he’s
immediately deported back to that country as he would have lost his political
asylum status there by the very act of returning to Malaysia and moreover
remains a Malaysian citizen. Under normal circumstances, political exiles are
encouraged by the host country to return home only when there’s a change of the
ruling party. If a political exile refuses to return home for any reason
whatsoever, there’s nothing the host country can do about that under
international laws and the UN Charter.
First things first for Hindraf Chief
If Waytha enters Malaysia not from Britain but
from a 3rd country, for example Singapore, Putrajaya can try to
refuse him entry. In that case, Singapore would be stuck with him. Singapore,
however, could refuse Waytha entry when he arrives from Britain en route to
Malaysia. That would be a violation of international law and the UN Charter.
Waytha, in a brief text response from London,
said he would worry about how he’s going to leave the country after he’s
allowed in. The Hindraf class action suit re-filed in London on July 2 may
require his presence from time to time. The British Government has four months
to reply to the Statement of Claim.
The four months gives Waytha enough time for him
to seek a Judicial Review in Court for the re-issuance of his passport but
provided he’s first granted leave.
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