KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 ― Malaysia must stop acting like North Korea which restricts critical citizens from leaving the country, the chief executive of think tank Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) said today.
Wan Saiful Wan Jan said freedom of movement includes the right to travel, adding that it was a universal human right as stated in the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948.
“In the current political climate we should find ways to turn our country more democratic and free, and not going in the opposite way,” he said in a statement.
“North Korea is one of the countries who [sic] have strict travel controls on all citizens and especially on those who are considered as dissidents. We shouldn't be moving towards that direction,” he added.
Wan Saiful told the government to be mindful of the 1948 UN declaration if it was interested to seek another term on board the global body’s Human Rights Council.
Putrajaya banned several politicians and activists from travelling abroad recently, the latest being Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah who was stopped last Sunday from flying to South Korea to receive a human rights award for the electoral reform group.
Immigration Department director-general Datuk Sakib Kusmi confirmed a new ruling has been in place stopping Malaysians who ridicule the government from leaving the country, The Star reported today.
Sakib did not provide statistics on the number of Malaysians barred for discrediting the government, but emphasised that passports are a privilege and not a right.
