114 Myanmar Nationals To Stay In M Sia After Court Leave Granted

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Around 114 Myanmar nationals in Malaysia have been given extended court protection from being deported to their strife-torn homeland.
Human rights groups - Amnesty International Malaysia and Asylum Access Malaysia - today succeeded in obtaining court leave to commence legal action to prevent the nationals from being sent back to Myanmar, now divided by violent protests.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court granted leave to the two groups' judicial review leave application against the immigration director-general, the home minister and the Malaysian government.
The 114 Myanmar nationals, initially under an interim court order preventing their deportation pending disposal of the judicial review leave application, now have an extended order protecting them from deportation.
On Feb 24, the Immigration Department deported 1,086 Myanmar nationals despite an earlier court order forbidding it, pending disposal of the existing legal action.
It is understood that some of the Myanmar nationals are refugees or asylum seekers and this is something the two rights groups are trying to ascertain. 
The court will later fix a date to hear submissions from parties over the merits of the judicial review leave application.
When contacted, lawyer Lim Wei Jiet, acting for Amnesty International and fellow applicant Asylum Access Malaysia, confirmed that the court leave was granted.

“The KL High Court granted leave for Asylum Access Malaysia and Amnesty International to proceed with their judicial review.
“Judge Mariana (Yahya) also granted a (further) stay against the director-general of Immigration and the home minister from deporting the remaining 114 Myanmar nationals until the disposal of the entire judicial review,” Lim said.
On the reasons for the decision, the lawyer explained that the judge rejected the arguments by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) that the two rights groups lacked locus standi (right or capacity to initiate legal action) to file the present legal action.
“It (court) held that NGOs played an important role in today’s society to vindicate for the rights of the vulnerable.
“The High Court acknowledged that we live today in a much more liberal society where concepts of accountability and transparency are part and parcel of our lives,” Lim said.
The AGC acts for the three respondents in the matter, namely the Immigration director-general, the home minister and the government.
Lim said the court also rejected the AGC’s arguments that the decisions of the two respondents are immune from the judicial review due to an ouster clause in Section 59A of the Immigration Act 1959.
The provision states that the decisions of the Immigration director-general or home minister are only subject to judicial review if it involves the issue of procedural compliance.
Lim said the court ruled that the judicial review application is not frivolous and vexatious, and thus need to be subjected to a full hearing.
Besides Lim, the other members of the two rights groups legal team included Ambiga Sreenevasan, Gurdial Singh Nijar, New Sin Yew, and Gokul Radhakrishnan.
Senior federal counsel S Narkunavathy, Ahmad Hanir Hambaly, Mohd Sabri Othman and M Kogilambigai, all from the AGC, appeared for the Immigration director-general, the home minister and the government.
The two rights groups' judicial review application will come up for case management before the High Court on March 23.
It was reported that Malaysia had agreed to deport 1,200 people to Myanmar amid a military coup and deadly protests in the country.
Previously, news portal Free Malaysia Today reported that three Myanmar-flagged vessels, including one described as a military operations ship, had arrived in Lumut, Perak and were anchored off the naval base there.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had urged Malaysia not to proceed with the deportation, while other groups warned that the deportation could legitimise the military junta now in power and expose Rohingya and other ethnic minorities to persecution.

The country had previously expressed “serious concern” over the coup in Myanmar.
Malaysia does not recognise the UN refugee status, hence, refugees are viewed under the law as undocumented migrants.

Despite the non-recognition, Malaysia is home to an estimated 154,000 refugees from Myanmar, apart from the larger number of undocumented migrant workers. - Mkini

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