COMMENT | 1,086 pairs of shoes for 1,086 Myanmar nationals deported

COMMENT | Challenger Malaysia, MISI: Solidariti, and Pemuda Sosialis with support from various NGOs stand in solidarity with the 1,086 Myanmar nationals who were deported back to Myanmar on Feb 23, 2021.

We unequivocally condemn the actions of the Malaysian Immigration Department for doing so. The deportation took place despite a stay of execution issued by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on the morning of Feb 23. Not only that, the act itself violates the international legal principle of “non-refoulement”.

Yesterday, March 5, 2021 at Taman Jaya Park, several representatives from the aforementioned organisations laid out 1,086 pairs of shoes to demonstrate just how many people - men, women, and even children amongst them, as reported by Amnesty International Malaysia - that the Malaysian government has potentially condemned, many of whom left Myanmar in search of a better life for themselves and their families.

All these lives cannot simply be reduced to a number, distant and disconnected from reality, so we must look at the space each of them would have occupied had they stood here in the flesh as living, breathing individuals.

However, even this does not do justice to capturing and representing the humanity of these individuals; these shoes cannot illustrate who they are as people - their hopes, dreams, and aspirations that all of us as individuals possess...