Malaysia questions treatment of Aborigines
By Karlis Salna, AAP South-East Asia Correspondent, The Sydney Morning Herald
Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman has questioned Australia’s treatment of Aborigines in response to criticism of his country’s record on human rights and the controversial asylum seeker swap deal.
Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Bali, Mr Aman lashed out at suggestions the 800 asylum seekers covered by the deal could be caned, saying Malaysia was a civilised nation.
“Australians always have fears,” he told AAP on Friday.
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When asked if he could guarantee that asylum seekers would not be caned, he said: “We won’t treat them like you have treated Aborigines.”
The comments come in the wake of criticism of the asylum seeker transfer deal linked to Malaysia’s record on human rights.
A series of Amnesty International reports have detailed how asylum seekers in Malaysia are subjected to abuse and extortion, and live in constant fear of deportation. Thousands are believed to be beaten and caned every year.
“I don’t know (why) you think that we cane those people,” Mr Aman said.
“We are a very civilised nation. If we are not civilised then you (Australia) are the ones to blame, because most of our politicians are Australian graduates.
