KUALA LUMPUR – Parallels are being drawn between the proposed Tracking Refugees Information System (TRIS) and the controversial Foreign Workers Centralised Management System as a private company will be entrusted with managing refugees’ private data.
Klang MP Charles Santiago is apprehensive over the government’s move to allow a private company to possess the data of all United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) cardholders in Malaysia, especially pertaining to their residences.
Speaking to The Vibes, he raised concerns over the current lack of details about the private firm tasked with implementing TRIS.
He warned that the programme could potentially face a similar fate as the Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS), which is solely managed by the embattled Bestinet Sdn Bhd.
“This system is going to be managed by a private company. That information has to be made public.
“Just like Bestinet, this (TRIS) could be a disaster in the making. We know some of these companies are questionable, and Bestinet is a good example.
“The government needs to show why this new system is required, or is it just another project meant to help the cronies?”
He said instead of introducing a brand new system that appears to treat refugees as enemies, the government could have instead worked with the UNHCR in ensuring their (refugees) civil liberties are protected.
He also asked if the move to implement TRIS is merely a prelude to closing down the UNHCR’s office here.
“The indication is there. I think there have been discussions within the government and the minister himself has implied as such.”
Bestinet has been ensnared in various allegations of exploitation and monopoly since it was entrusted to implement FWCMS in 2013, with the company recently making headlines over alleged graft in the selection of 25 Bangladesh recruiting agencies tasked with sending their workers here.
Recently, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin announced the government’s approval for the adoption of TRIS, which would require all UNHCR cardholders to register to allow the state to identify their whereabouts, among others.
He said the system, which has been on trial for several years and will now be handled by a private company, would enable the government to determine if the refugees are living in the country for the purpose of employment or “to carry out other matters”.
Money-making scheme for cronies?
Human rights group Tenaganita consultant Joseph Paul Maliamauv said the TRIS announcement has raised questions that require immediate government response, including the details of the private company and whether it was selected through open tender.
He said in the absence of answers, the proposed system appears to be yet another scheme to enable crony companies to make money at the expense of refugees.
“At a time when Malaysians and refugees are already struggling to survive, this is definitely not a priority.
“It simply seems to be a self-serving, hare-brained idea to be foisted off on the Malaysian public, to give them a semblance of assurance that the Home Ministry is doing something to deal with a perceived security threat.”
Maliamauv said among the key questions that demand answers include whether the refugees will have to bear the cost of the TRIS’ implementation, how the system would ensure refugees are in Malaysia for employment or otherwise, and why the need to track their whereabouts.
He also wants the government to make public the full report of the several years-long trial supposedly conducted by the Home Ministry.
“From the human rights point of view, would the minister and the cabinet be agreeable to have a similar system attached to MyKad? If not, why should refugees be treated as lesser human beings who should be tracked?” – The Vibes, July 26, 2022
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