Malaysian government is complaining that there are so many foreigners in Malaysia's prisons - and that they have spend so much money on them...but what really is the intention of the Home Minister and the Malaysian Government. Is it to propagate and/or enhance the prejudicial perception that Migrants/Foreigners are bad...'criminals'...the reason for crimes,...What is it you are trying to do? Why no mention about the number of Malaysians in prison, and the cost incurred? How many tried and convicted persons in Malaysian prisons are Malaysians...and how many are foreigners? How many of these foreigners have been tried and convicted for crimes other than offences against the immigration act (lapse visa, no passport, etc...)?
Hishammuddin [Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein] said that in 2009, there were 81,396 foreigners in Malaysian prisons and a staggering RM171.08mil was spent on them, adding that between 2006 and last year, 408,979 illegal immigrants were detained at 13 immigration depots.
Last year alone, the Government spent RM341,881 daily to feed them. - Star, 24/3/2010, One month for foreign labour experts
Who are these persons who are in prison, and why are they in prison?
How many are convicted persons? (i.e. those that have been tried and found guilty by the court, OR those who have pleaded guilty in court - and are in prison because they are serving out the court sentences of imprisonment.)
Then, with regard to those convicted and sentenced, what are their offences? (i.e. how many for murder, robbery, theft, etc....and how many for some immigration offence like overstaying, visa violations, not having documents, etc...)
How many are really REMAND PRISONERS? These are persons being detained whilst they wait for the trials to start...or be over. These are innocent persons because we believe in the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
Many of the poor, and also migrant workers and other foreigners sometime cannot afford to pay the bail - which can be high sometimes - RM2,000, RM3,000, RM10,000, RM50,000... it all depends on the Magistrate and/or judges - and when it come to non-Malaysians, it is sometimes even higher. Foreigners and migrants also have the difficulty getting sureties, and courts normally insist that they be Malaysians. Would you be willing to put your money in court and stand as surety for a foreigner - knowing that if he runs away or not turn up in court the next day, you will lose all (or most) of your money. Surety guarantees the attendance of the accused at the next and subsequent court dates. It is very hard for many foreigners to get sureties...
Next problem that faces the foreigners is that their entry and stay in Malaysia is governed by visas. A social visit visa may be for 90 days(or less), and many of these visas expire (or are going to expire) by the time the foreigners is brought to court and charged, and this makes it more 'difficult' for courts to grant bail.
I say 'more difficult' because in Malaysia, all persons are entitled to be treated equally, and a person charged with a bailable offence is entitled to be bailed out. [Only limited offences like murder, drug trafficking, etc ... do not allow for bail - but even here, in certain cases bail would be granted].
What happens if the social visit visa, work visa, etc has expired (or is about to expire)? Well, in granting bail, the court can direct the Immigration Department to issue the foreigner with a 'Special Pass' - that will allow him/her to remain legally in Malaysia. Normally, when it comes to a foreigner, the courts as a condition of granting bail, will also require the passport to be deposited in court as security. Hence, even taking the passport to the Immigration to get a Special Pass is tricky. Court may require a personal undertaking from the lawyer to take the passport from court to the Immigration Department, to get the 'Special Pass' and thereafter return the Passport back to Court. Most lawyers may not be willing to do so.
There is another problem - as the Immigration Special Pass (costing RM100) is a 1-month pass usually, and the process have to be repeated every month. Delay in trials starting and ending in Malaysia makes it an extremely time and cost consuming exercise - and maybe only the rich foreigner an afford this.
Another problem is that Passport can expire - and how does one renew it. Possible if renewal can be done in some embassies.
What happens when passports are not in the possession with the detained 'suspect' - as in Malaysia, against the law, employers and 3rd parties hold on to migrant's passports. (and Malaysian government seems OK with this...) .. passports get 'lost' when someone gets arrested, and employers/agents so easily deny that they had(or have) the foreigner's passports. Should special passes be given to the accussed foreigner? If it is a bailable offence, I say it must.
The problem why there are co many foreigners in Malaysia's prisons is because of Malaysia's UMNO-led BN government's failures, and the Home Minister should not be complaining about this...I believe that most of them are remand prisoners, and if they had been 'richer' Malaysians, they would have been out on bail - and hence saving the government money needed to keep them in prison.
QUESTIONS FOR THE HOME MINISTER & Malaysian Goverment (which maybe some MP could also ask - or the government could just give us all the answer?)
* How many foreigners in Malaysian prisons are 'convicted and sentenced' prisoners? How many are remand prisoners? How many of the remand prisoners are charged with offences that are bailable (that they could be released on bail)? For the foreigners, how many of them are in a situation where their visas are expired? How many have passports that have expired? How many do not have a copy of their own passports?
** How many Malaysians in Malaysian prisons are 'convicted and sentenced' prisoners? How many are remand prisoners? How many of the remand prisoners are charged with offences that are bailable (that they could be released on bail)?
*** For the foreigners who have been sentenced, and serving prison sentences, how many are with regard to immigration law offences?
***What is the per day per prisoner cost? Malaysia's Home Minister said that RM171.08mil was spent on 81,396 foreigners in Malaysian prisons in 2006-2009(3 years), how many actual prison days are we talking about, and what percentage of this sentenced prison time, and what percentage was really remand prison time? How much was spent on Malaysian prisoners for the same period?
The giving of information without full details and particulars leads to people making wrong conclusions, i.e. that migrants are 'bad people' and commit crimes...that most of the crimes in Malaysia are committed by foreigners, etc.. This is called tarnishing the image of foreigners - and it is wrong, and one reason for doing this is to continue to propagate this prejudice against the poor foreign migrant workers....
In the past, there was a perception that Malays were lazy and stupid, and there was nothing 'straight' about a Chinese except his hair - i.e. they are untrustworthy. The propagation of such prejudice based on ethnicity (religion, citizenship, ..) is so wrong. Is the Malaysian Home Minister trying to propagate a negative image of migrants in Malaysia...of foreigners in Malaysia? I wonder....
Hishammuddin [Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein] said that in 2009, there were 81,396 foreigners in Malaysian prisons and a staggering RM171.08mil was spent on them, adding that between 2006 and last year, 408,979 illegal immigrants were detained at 13 immigration depots.
Last year alone, the Government spent RM341,881 daily to feed them. - Star, 24/3/2010, One month for foreign labour experts
See also earlier posts:-
This proposal to register them as workers is also economically feasible, as Malaysia now spends about RM30-00 per migrant per day in the detention centres.
Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wira Abu Seman Yusop said the government also had to shoulder expenditure of RM30 a day for every illegal immigrant held at immigration depots.
"This covers the daily cost and treatment cost only, and not medical cost. The cost of air, sea and land charges is borne by the government," he said when replying to a question from Mohsin Fadzli Samsuri (PKR-Bagan Serai). Star, 10/12/2009, Parliament: RM30mil spent to send back 154,729 illegals [Earlier post:- Registering undocumented migrants and allowing them to work will profit Malaysia]
The Home Minister 'smartly' reveals not the number of arrests made - but the number of detentions made. He is reported to have said, "...47,310 detentions were made..." in 2009.
"This involved 26,545 cases of illegal entry; 8,655 cases of overstaying after the visit pass or permit had lapsed; 6,836 cases of flouting pass or permit conditions or having fake permits; and the rest were for other offences," he said.
Then, he gives a breakdown for the reasons of detentions...
26,545 cases of illegal entry
8,655 cases of overstaying after the visit pass or permit had lapsed
6,836 cases of flouting pass or permit conditions or having fake permits
That brings the total to 42,036 persons - and what are the possible other offences that caused the other 5,274 to be detained.
Were they detained because they could not produce their original passport and pass/permits because the employer wrongly was holding on to them? I believe that this could have been the reason for the arrest and detention. -How many migrant workers were wrongly arrested? detained? Be truthful..reveal all Mr Home Minister
When they talk about cost, I also wonder whether this cost is caused by other reasons like corruption, giving out over-priced tenders to certain parties, ... Looking at the Al-Jazeera video on the condition of detention centers, especially the food that they get, one wonders whether so much money is spent on detainees/prisoners.
Maybe, Malaysia should be looking at how money can be saved by cutting down unnecessary expenses. Would it not be cheaper if food is prepared with the help of the detainees/prisoners? Would it not be cheaper if laundry is done by prisoners/detainees? Maybe, instead of detaining them in prisons, while they await their trial, they should be released on Bail with proper papers to stay/work in this country. Maybe, the government will increase the number of courts & judges, and expedite all cases involving foreigners (and all other remand prisoners) - maybe it should commence within 2 weeks, and should be completed not later than 3 months from the date of being charged?
A lot of money get wasted because of the policies, priorities of the UMNO-led government of Malaysia. A few years ago, it was revealed that we have only 2.4 judges to a million people, and it was a far cry from what we needed. If you do not have enough court and judges, of course there will be a lot of 'prisoners' languishing in court waiting for their trial to start and finish - and sometimes, even the 'innocent' may plead guilty so that he can just serve his sentence and get out of jail. A grave injustice brought about by the UMNO-led BN government's failings.
Special courts - what we need is more Judges...and more courts."...The Malaysian ratio is 2.4 judges to a million people — a far cry from the ratio in India (10.5 judges), Australia (57.1), Britain (50.1) and Canada (75)..." - 2.4 judges to a million people [See earlier posts:-Eradication of poverty, Free Universal Healthcare, Worker Safety - seem to be not priorities of PM Najib]
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