Speaking at a public discussion themed "Access to Justice: the Malaysian Experience" here on Saturday, Anwar said he was quite concerned about the poor ways in which the Malaysian government was managing the treatment of foreign migrant workers.
"They (migrant workers) are human too, not slaves, they came to Malaysia to work, so they should be treated as humans, and with proper consideration," the Malaysian opposition leader said.
Anwar also demanded the establishment of the practice of caning alleged wrongdoers because it was an inhumane penalty.
He said when he was in prison, he was often asked to help treat migrant workers who had sustained back injuries during a caning session.
Besides abolishing caning, Anwar said, Malaysian authorities should also treat jailed migrant workers in a transparent way and allow them to be visited by their families, regardless of their offense.
Anwar was in 1999, sentenced to six years in prison for corruption, and in 2000 he was accused of sodomy but in 2004 the Malaysian Federal Court reversed the second conviction and he was released.
In July 2008, he was arrested over another sodomy allegation made by one of his male aides, and faces new sodomy charges in the Malaysian courts.
On August 26, 2008, Anwar won re-elected in the Permatang Pauh by-election and returned to Parliament as leader of the Malaysian opposition.
He has stated the need for liberalization, including an independent judiciary and free media, to combat the endemic corruption which he said had pushed Malaysia close to failed state status.
(T.A050/HAJM)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
