PETALING JAYA: The immigration department may have gone beyond its powers if it deported a Pakistani journalist living in exile here, a former minister said.
P Waytha Moorthy said deporting Syed Fawad Ali Shah would be tantamount to an extrajudicial act and goes against Malaysia’s commitment to human rights and its undertaking to uphold all UN conventions and protocols.
Fawad, 41, who holds a UNHCR refugee card, had sought asylum from the agency for alleged persecution in Pakistan over articles published in several English dailies there which relate to government corruption.
Fawad, 41, who holds a UNHCR refugee card, had sought asylum from the agency for alleged persecution in Pakistan over articles published in several English dailies there which relate to government corruption.
He has been missing since August, and his wife, Syeda, is in Kuala Lumpur looking for him. A missing persons’ report has also been lodged.
“The journalist is clearly an activist working on the disappearance of individuals in his country (and is) now targeted by his government. The granting of refugee status by UNHCR is a recognition of the persecution he faced.
“The government must (state) whether it would stand by its international obligations to respect the 1951 Refugee Convention,” Waytha said in a statement to FMT.
Waytha, a lawyer, said the foreign, law and home ministers must all state their stand on the issue.
“There needs to be an explanation to the public on the (allegations made with regard to the role) of the immigration department,” he said.
Fawad came to Malaysia in 2011 through Thailand and was later granted refugee status by UNHCR. His troubles began three years earlier when he decided to investigate cases of missing persons.
His work eventually led him to believe the authorities were involved in the disappearance of these people, many of whom were accused of everything from spying for the Americans and Indians to working for the Taliban.
While he worked on other articles, he continued to pursue cases involving missing persons.
In 2010, he was detained for 18 days and interviewed by individuals, said to be Pakistani intelligence officials.
Fawad was eventually released with a warning: stop writing about missing persons and give up journalism.
