Sharp increase in racism incidents in 2021, says rights group
Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s chopstick remark when talking about the assimilation of races in the country was among the incidents noted in the report.
PETALING JAYA: There has been an increase in incidents of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia in Malaysia, according to a study by the rights group Pusat Komas.
According to the report titled “Malaysia Racial Discrimination Report 2021”, the number of incidents more than doubled from 21 in 2020 to 53 in 2021.
Of the incidents reported last year, the largest percentage involved racial and religious politics (28%), followed by racial and religious provocation (23%), xenophobia (13%), racial discrimination in the education sector (11%), racism in other sectors (11%), racism in the media and internet (8%), and racial discrimination in the business sector (6%).
The group listed all 53 incidents of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia in the report.
This included an incident on April 8 last year when home minister Hamzah Zainudin mocked human rights advocates who had questioned the government’s treatment of detained undocumented migrants before deportation.
Hamzah asked if NGOs were willing to cover the daily cost to house and feed the immigrants in detention centres.
Another incident recorded involved former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who used the example of the Chinese community using chopsticks to highlight the challenges in assimilating the non-Malay population in the country.
The group also identified 61 initiatives to combat racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia.
Among them, 49% were activities that promoted national unity while the remaining 51% were of people calling out and responding to racial and religious injustices.
The group noted that the number of such actions recorded in 2021 had surged more than 300% from 2020.
“These actions are encouraging signs that demonstrate the people’s fight against racism and racial discrimination in the country,” the report said.
PETALING JAYA: There has been an increase in incidents of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia in Malaysia, according to a study by the rights group Pusat Komas.
According to the report titled “Malaysia Racial Discrimination Report 2021”, the number of incidents more than doubled from 21 in 2020 to 53 in 2021.
Of the incidents reported last year, the largest percentage involved racial and religious politics (28%), followed by racial and religious provocation (23%), xenophobia (13%), racial discrimination in the education sector (11%), racism in other sectors (11%), racism in the media and internet (8%), and racial discrimination in the business sector (6%).
The group listed all 53 incidents of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia in the report.
This included an incident on April 8 last year when home minister Hamzah Zainudin mocked human rights advocates who had questioned the government’s treatment of detained undocumented migrants before deportation.
Hamzah asked if NGOs were willing to cover the daily cost to house and feed the immigrants in detention centres.
Another incident recorded involved former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who used the example of the Chinese community using chopsticks to highlight the challenges in assimilating the non-Malay population in the country.
The group also identified 61 initiatives to combat racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia.
Among them, 49% were activities that promoted national unity while the remaining 51% were of people calling out and responding to racial and religious injustices.
The group noted that the number of such actions recorded in 2021 had surged more than 300% from 2020.
“These actions are encouraging signs that demonstrate the people’s fight against racism and racial discrimination in the country,” the report said.
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