KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 — The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) has urged the Sarawak government to lift all entry bans in the state, calling the practice repressive even if the state’s Constitution allows for it.
The commission noted that scores of activists and political leaders are still barred from entering the state even as the Sarawak Barisan Nasional (BN) government removed the restrictions on Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders after the coalition took federal power on May 9.
“Suhakam takes note that by virtue of their appointment as cabinet ministers, the travel ban imposed on a few Pakatan Harapan ministers by the state of Sarawak has been lifted.
“However, there are scores of Malaysians reportedly in the hundreds,” chairman Tan Sri Razali Ismail said.
Those on the list are usually critics of the state government, most of whom have spoken up on human rights violations, Razali added.
Among those still on the state’s travel ban list Suhakam Commissioner Jerald Joseph.
Sarawak and Sabah enjoy a certain degree of autonomy and both states have laws that allow its governments to block the entry of anyone deemed as security threat.
But human rights groups claimed the previous BN state administration often abuse this law to restrict and stifle the opposition.
Suhakam were also critical of the ban and has urged the practice to be totally eliminated.
“Suhakam takes the position that no state in Malaysia should any longer ban Malaysian citizens from entry even if there are Constitutional powers as such actions are a remnant of the past repressive practice,” Razali said.
“Suhakam calls on the Sarawak state government to take the necessary steps to lift the entry ban.”
