I delivered an adjournment speech on the last day of Parliament (2nd July) with regards to the issue that there may not be enough places to "detain" illegal immigrants after they have been arrested in Petaling Jaya.
A residents' association organised dialogue which invited the OCPD had invited a question which asked why the police do not raid an illegal settlement located just across a small river from their houses since the source of crime of the area appears to be from there.
The Petaling Jaya OCPD had replied that they could conduct the raid. However, should they find any of them being illegals, they will have a problem "housing" them as there is a lack of space in the police lock ups etc.
Some of the residents obviously took offence at the statement and complained to me. They rightly pointed out that "the lack of space" should not be an excuse for the Police to avoid "raids" on illegal settlements. Hence I took up this question to the Minister of Home Affairs, as per the text below. The Minister's (disappointing) reply will be posted next.
Tuan yang dipertua,
Saya ingin menarik perhatian dewan kepada satu dialog polis dengan 150 orang penduduk di suatu kawasan perumahan di kawasan saya. Salah satu isu yang dikemukakan adalah masalah pendatang asing yang telah berlanjutan selama 10 tahun, yang disyaki punca utama kes jenayah seperti kes pencerobohan rumah, kecurian dan pencederaan yang semakin meningkat di kawasan perumahan mereka.
OCPD yang hadir diseru untuk mengambil tindakan segera untuk menangani masalah ini demi keselamatan para penduduk kawasan perumahan tersebut. Jawapan OCPD kepada para penduduk ialah pihak polis tidak dapat mengambil tindakan terhadap kes ini. Alasannya, jika pihak polis menyiasat dan menyerbu kawasan pendatang asing ini, dan selepas itu, mendapati bahawa kesemua adalah pendatang asing secara haram, pihak polis tidak mempunyai ruang yang mencukupi untuk menempatkan pendatang asing ini selepas mereka ditahan.
Alasan ini amat mengecewakan sekali, kerana ia mencerminkan sikap polis yang enggan berusaha untuk mengatasi isu keamanan yang dibangkitkan oleh rakyat. Terutama sekali kadar jenayah di Petaling Jaya adalah yang paling tinggi di negeri Selangor dari tahun 2000 hingga 2008. Dengan sikap OCPD ini yang tidak prihatin kepada kes jenayah yang dilaporkan, bolehkah kita berharap adanya perubahan baik terhadap kadar jenayah yang semakin meruncing di Petaling Jaya? Sikap ini hanya melanjutkan persepsi rakyat bahawa inilah bantuan polis yang sedia ada di negara kita, dan rakyat hanya boleh menerima sahaja keadaan keamanan yang sedia ada.
Soalan saya kepada Menteri Dalam Negeri, adakah jawapan “tidak cukup ruang” OCPD ini merupakan “standard response” pihak polis terhadap masalah pendatang asing? Apakah tindakan yang pihak tuan telah ambil bagi menangani masalah kadar jenayah yang disebabkan oleh influx pendatang asing yang berleluasa, dan masalah kekurangan ruang untuk menempatkan pendatang asing yang ditahan yang dijelaskan sebagai “bottleneck” bagi pihak polis untuk mengambil tindakan sepatutnya? Perlukah rakyat jelata “put up” dengan situasi ini, dan sentiasa hidup dalam rasa takut dan bimbang terhadap keselamatan mereka, atas kekurangan tindakan tegas dan cepat dari pihak tuan.
Pihak polis diraja Malaysia mempunyai lebih kurang 100,000 anggota untuk menghapuskan jenayah di negara kita. Mengapakah pihak polis mampu mengerahkan ribuan anggotanya secara cepat, cekap dan tegas untuk mengawasi dan menyekat ceramah-ceramah, majlis jamuan atau acara menyalakan lilin pihak pembangkang, yang langsung tidak mencabuli keamanan dan ketenteraman; tetapi keberkesanan dan efisiensi yang sama tidak dapat dilihat dalam usaha menangani masalah-masalah pendatang asing dan kadar jenayah yang meningkat? Bukankah usaha menghapuskan jenayah sepatutnya merupakan tugas utama yang perlu difokuskan oleh pihak polis?
Sekian, terima kasih.
7 comments:
Yb,
Your question to Menteri Dalam Negeri was direct & crisp. I wonder how it will be answered by our Bolehland minister.
Waiting for your upcoming post ;)
they were keeping the space for those candlelight vigil-ers like my mp, my adun and my councillor-lah
Another hopeless ocpd just like his boss igp.
As rightly pointed out by "LuLu" , they (polis) are reserving space for PR's MPs , Aduns and/or those who wears black.
I had read your question and the main point kept focus onto lock up space .
The "answer" provided was aloof .
It is not an answer but rather an advertisement piece about polis being very 'efficient" .
Clear case of serious "tanya lain dan di jawap lain" syndrome or the "tanya ini dan di jawap itu" syndrome.
YB, does it mean that the resident association is asking that everytime when there's a reported crime, the police has to launch a 'raid' on a migrant settlement, suspect to hold illegal or undocumented workers?
is there enough evidence to substantiate the claim that the rising crime rate is caused by illegal immigrants? or enough evidence to warrant a 'raid' on a migrant settlement 'suspect' to contain illegal workers?
while i sympathize with the residents who have to increasingly face living in fear and insecurity, i also wonder what it will be like for migrant workers (esp legal ones) to have their homes 'raided' everytime there is a reported crime in the name of searching for illegal immmigrants.
the fact that m'sia has not signed the refugee convention further confused the difference between refugees and illegal immigrants.
they are indeed the most vulnerable and marginalized group in m'sia, and all too easy to heap blame on them because they are poor.
even if some of them did resort to illegal means to sustain livelihood, it must be remembered that the underlying cause at the end of the day is poverty, probably due to the economic discrimination they face working for m'sians.
ChrisC,
It' an illegal settlement behind the residents' houses. They don't even have proper sanitation, illegally taps the local water and electricity and all rubbish goes into the river.
There has also been sufficient break-ins via their back doors to suggest the source of the crime.
Should the police not raid the place, and let it mushroom further? We are not talking about legal premises here.
Tony
Govt can build huge building for the cops, large size jail for the Adun/MP of opposition, but no space for illegals?
Cops speak the darnest thing. Wonder govt extensively recruit cops merely for postal votes & reinforced their guard dog recruits , rather then thier brains.
Where is this eagerness ..to serve the rakyat.
Pamelo
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