The President of the Malaysian Advance Party, Waytha Moorthy Ponnusamy, on Tuesday has expressed shock over the decision of the government of Malaysia to deport Pakistani journalist Syed Fawad Ali Shah back to Pakistan.
While expressing shock, Ponnusamy said that, “I am shocked with the decision of the Malaysian government to deport Pakistani journalist Syed Fawad Ali Shah back to Pakistan where he is certain to face persecution.”
“The grounds of his return to Pakistan on allegations by Pakistan authorities that he was “actually a police officer facing disciplinary problems ” is shallow, unfounded and does not justify the deportation when he is already assessed by the UNHCR office in Malaysia, which is working with foreign governments to accept Fawad Ali permanently in another country,” said Poonusamy.
He further added that, “While the act of sending Fawad Ali back to Pakistan last August was done under the previous government, the current government is responsible to give the public an explanation on the justification of such an action by the immigration DG. Governments come and go- it is norm in a democratic country. The basic tenet of a functioning civil service is to uphold accountability and maintain political neutrality. The country’s international obligations and conventions that Malaysia committed itself to, must be guarded by the civil service, which acts as the administrative implementer on behalf of the government.”
Meanwhile, he has requested the Home Minister Datuk Saifuddin Nasatioun to order the Director General of Immigration to come up with his justifications and explanation about defying the international protection given to Fawad Ali.
“The DG must also confirm whether the authorities gave Fawad Ali the right to counsel/legal representation and challenge the decision of the immigration department and government to deport him in court and any breach of this is a clear breach of Natural justice,” says President of Malaysian Advance Party.
At the same time, he also made a demand to the DG of Immigration to make justification about why he defied the fact that Fawad Ali is a person granted refugee status by the UNHCR office in Kuala Lumpur and he is awaiting repatriation to a safe nation as Malaysia is a signatory to The Refugees Convention 1951.
