THE Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) today urged Putrajaya to reaffirm its commitment to protecting human rights through allocations in the 2018 Budget.

Its chairman, Razali Ismail, said the 2018 Budget, to be announced on October 27, would disappoint many if it failed to ensure priority was given to critical areas, such as education for Malaysian and non-Malaysians children, healthcare, housing and employment. 

The commission, which received a RM10.12 million allocation in this year’s budget, also listed several recommendations for the 2018 Budget, including consideration for refugees and conditions at detention centres.

The list included the commitment to “ensure adequate financial resources to fund the provision of refugee and asylum seeker assistance considering the current situation in Rakhine and the current refugee population in Malaysia”.

Another recommendation was for the federal government to “ensure adequate financial resources for the management of detention centres including infrastructure, nutrition, health and safety, appointments of medical doctors at every facility, as well as sanitation, among others and to ensure the specific needs of disabled persons are sufficiently considered in regard to compliance with relevant standards in keeping with our vision of a progressive nation that works for everyone”.

Razali also said that the government must ensure significant allocation be given to indigenous peoples towards the realisation of their land rights as well as free periodic health screenings and immunisation for all national enforcement personnel, including the police, Immigration officers, prison officers, army personnel and national security officers. – October 17, 2017.