MALAYSIA SHOULD BE FIRM NOT TO EXTRADITE UYGHUR TO CHINA

We welcome Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof reported statement at the Parliament building August 10, 2020 that Malaysia will not entertain requests to extradite ethnic Uyghur refugees to China and will allow them safe passage to a third country should they feel their safety is at risk, a minister has said.

According to the report the Minister said Malaysia respects the right of sovereign countries to manage their own internal affairs, even if it recognises that the Uyghurs face oppression in China.

This comments were made in a written parliamentary reply posted on the legislature’s website. This marks the first time Malaysia has taken a clear position to not extradite Uyghur refugees.

He was quoted saying that “They are allowed to move on to a third country should they fear for their safety or potentially face persecution, where they feel they would not receive protection and justice in their home country”.

We fully support this argument and hope that it will be a consistent position held by Malaysia though China will oppose it as done in October 2018, when Malaysian authorities released 11 Uyghurs from detention and sent them to Turkey, despite a request from China to return them.

Malaysia should be firm and should not submit to China.If they had not violated any rulings in Malaysia, we have the sovereign right not to sent them back to China.

We take note of the United Nations’s report that at least 1 million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims have been detained in what China describes as “vocational training centers” to stamp out extremism and give people new skills.

We demand China not to pressure Malaysia on the Uyghur issue.

We also urge the government of Malaysia to fully protect their human rights and ensure that they will be facilitated to be sent to a third country if they choose to do so.

Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid

President Malaysia Consultative Council of Islamic Organizations.