Prove sincerity, Zahid tells Penang government

KAJANG: The Federal Government has challenged Opposition-led Penang to take in Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants stranded at sea to prove the state’s “sincerity to human rights”.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said several areas in the northern states had been tagged as possible sites to house the thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants still adrift at sea, but insisted that Penang be part of the solution.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng told The Star on Saturday that some 50,000 Rohingya migrants arrived in Penang over the last six years and that state land could not be used to house them.

He also said the migrants should be housed on land owned by the Federal Government, stressing that the state was crowded and that it had not been consulted by the National Security Council.

“We want to see the sincerity of the Penang government, led by DAP and partnered by PAS and PKR, who have become champions of human rights and been encouraging the Federal Government to adopt humanitarian policies,” said Dr Ahmad Zahid at his ministry’s family day here yesterday.

“Accept the migrants into Penang,” he dared.

Likening the DAP secretary-general as someone who “cannot walk his talk”, Dr Ahmad Zahid said the Federal Government was more sincere on the issue.

The minister also called on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration to bear part of Malaysia’s cost in housing and feeding the migrants. The UNHCR estimates that about 3,000 migrants are still adrift in the Andaman Sea.

In a joint statement with other humanitarian agencies, it called on Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand to allow those crammed onto ships to disembark, saying they lacked food, water and medical attention.

Lim reacted strongly to Dr Ahmad Zahid’s swipe at Penang.

“Let us not play politics with this,” he said. “We’ve said we are willing to cooperate. Why challenge us?” asked Lim as he urged the Federal Government to rope in state agencies to handle the matter.

“We cannot do anything until they involve us. We still need the Federal Government to authorise us because this is an immigration and national security matter.”

DAP’s Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim said the decision to house migrants had to be planned by both the Federal and state governments.

“Kedah, which is much larger than Penang, has an immigration detention centre, but it can only house 1,500 people,” he said.

Penang Consumer Protection Association president K. Koris Atan said Penang should not be accused of hypocrisy.

“I fully support the Federal Government’s call to help the refugees, but why choose Penang, which is already struggling with insufficient space?” he asked.