Civil society organisations working on migration and development in Bangladesh demanded immediate release and protection of Bangladeshi migrant Rayhan Kabir who was arrested by Malaysian law enforcers on Friday for speaking in a documentary broadcasted by Al Jazeera.
He spoke about the discriminatory treatment of migrant workers in Malaysia recently.
The 21 organisations are BRAC, Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), Bangladesh Nari Sramik Kendro (BNSK), IID Migration Policy Unit, WARBE Development Foundation, , Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF), Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Program (OKUP), Ain o Shalish Kendra (ASK), Bangladeshi Ovhibashi Mohila Sramik Association (BOMSA), BASUG, INAFI Bangladesh, Karmojibi Nari, Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha (BNPS), Devcom, Human Rights Support Society (HRSS), Awaj Foundation, Rights Jessore, BILS, Bastob, Film for Peace Foundation, and Migration News.
The organisations made the demand in a joint statement on Saturday and also expressed deep concern over the arrest of the Bangladeshi youth.
“We demand his immediate release and protection”, the statement read.
They also requested the Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment (MoEWOE) in Dhaka and concerned international organisations to take necessary steps in this regard.
The investigative documentary titled ‘Locked Up in Malaysia’s Lockdown’ was broadcasted on July 3 as part of Al Jazeera’s “101 East” documentary series.
It shows that the Malaysian government is discriminating against migrants during the epidemic through the Movement Control Order (MCO).
The civil society organisations issued another statement on July 11 calling on Malaysian law enforcement authorities to investigate such allegations and expressed their concerns when the journalists of Al Jazeera were called to Malaysia Central Police Headquarter for questioning.
The Immigration Department of Malaysia also issued a search warrant for Rayhan Kabir (25) who was interviewed in the documentary.
The local administration had issued a summon to seek his personal information and issued a notice in the newspapers. He was subsequently arrested on Friday.
His handcuffed photos where shared in the media and Malaysian authority announced that Rayhan will be deported and banned from entering into Malaysia forever.
Rayhan has been staying in Malaysia legally before Malaysian authorities abruptly rejected his work permit for giving the interview. The statement pointed out that an interview to the media is not a crime and Rayhan Kabir did not commit any crime.
