Our client, M. A. Quayum, has instructed us to make the following statement.
1. On 29 May 2024, a consent judgment was recorded before the High Court of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur in our client’s habeas corpus application no. WA-44-2-01/2024.
2. The application was filed on 15 January 2024 concerning our client’s arrest and subsequent detention from 12 January 2024 by the police and immigration authorities.
3. Respondents named in the application were the Inspector General of Police, Director General of Immigration, Minister of Home Affairs and Government of Malaysia.
4. The essential terms of the consent judgment recorded today are as follows:
4.1 The detention and removal orders against our client are revoked and cancelled.
4.2 Our client, as a refugee, shall be released to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for resettlement in a third country.
4.3 Our client and his dependents will not be detained or removed from Malaysia pending third-country resettlement on condition that they do not commit any criminal offence or are charged in the courts.
4.4 Our client will discontinue the two legal proceedings he had filed: the habeas corpus and judicial review applications.
5. Our client and his family sincerely thank the Minister of Home Affairs, his officers and the Malaysian government for their understanding and agreement in resolving this matter humanely.
6. Although our client was in detention for a total number of 28 days, he wishes to move on. He views today’s development positively and as a step in the right direction, consistent with the Malaysian government’s continuing state practice and policy of recognising the rights of asylum-seekers and refugees in line with the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees 1951.
Edmund Bon Tai Soon, Kee Shu Min, and Lee Yee Woei
AmerBON, Advocates
