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New Straits Times
17-05-2025
- New Straits Times
Disabled child's future uncertain as Bangladeshi father faces deportation
Slug: izbangladeshi HL: Disabled child's future uncertain as Bangladeshi father faces deportation Ahmad Hasbi SEREMBAN: A disabled seven-year-old girl is now under the care of her Bangladeshi father following the death of her Malaysian mother. However, the father, Mohammad Ala Uddin, 39, holds only a temporary visitation pass that expires on May 27, and he is not eligible to work in Malaysia. Ala Uddin said his daughter, Siti Aminah Mohammad Ala Uddin, a Malaysian citizen, was born without a womb, has hearing difficulties, a single kidney, and a disability affecting her right hand. "I returned to Bangladesh previously and re-entered Malaysia at the end of April to apply for a long-term visitation pass. "However, after completing the documents, my wife passed away last Sunday, and now I am the sole caregiver for my daughter. "It is more difficult to apply for the temporary pass now that my wife has died. I am worried about my daughter's future if I am arrested or deported," he told Harian Metro when met in Senawang yesterday. The late Nur Shaillah Revathy Abdullah, 35, a Muslim convert, died last Sunday due to heart complications. The father, who married in 2017, is currently ineligible to work and relies on the RM300 monthly assistance from the Welfare Department, which is channelled under his daughter's name. When asked why he had never applied for a long-term visitation pass before, Ala Uddin was unable to explain clearly due to a language barrier. However, he said he had previously attempted to apply through an intermediary but was cheated out of RM7,500 without any application being submitted. His neighbour, Nor Azlina Helan Harold, 47, said the mother had worked as a cleaner and always picked up her daughter after school. "They are in a difficult situation, and it has only worsened now because Aminah is being cared for by her father, who is a Bangladeshi national," she said. Meanwhile, Persatuan Cakna Rasa Sayang (PCRS) patron Zulkifli Muhamed said his team was specifically called in to assist Siti Aminah and safeguard her future. "PCRS is committed to helping this man, not only in terms of living assistance and verifying his residence status in the country, but most importantly in ensuring that this child receives adequate support, including in matters of religious belief," he said. He added that his association would assist the single father in applying for a long-term visitation pass at the Immigration Department office in Putrajaya as soon as possible. Zulkifli also expressed concern that the father's current visitation pass status could jeopardise his daughter's well-being and cut off his source of income, as he is unable to work legally.
The National
22-04-2025
- Politics
- The National
IDF report into killing of Palestinian medics 'full of lies'
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PCRS), Gaza's civil defence service and the UN's humanitarian agency have rejected the findings of the report which concluded the deaths were caused by "professional failures". Eight PCRS personnel, six civil defence workers and a UN staff member were killed in the shooting before dawn on March 23 by Israeli troops conducting operations in Tel al-Sultan, a district of the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Troops then bulldozed over the bodies along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. UN and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later to dig out the bodies. READ MORE: Scottish Government to respond to Supreme Court gender ruling in Holyrood statement Israel initially claimed that the medics' vehicles did not have emergency signals on when troops opened fire. It also claimed, without evidence, that nine of those killed were Hamas militants. However, video emerged showing the Red Crescent and Civil Defence teams driving slowly with lights flashing and logos visible, as they pulled up to help another ambulance that had earlier come under fire. Israel has now said that a deputy commander of the Golani Brigade will be fired, and claimed the military investigation found the commander, 'due to poor night visibility', assessed that the ambulances belonged to Hamas militants. The report has been rejected by humanitarian agencies, with the PCRS saying it was "full of lies". Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the PRCS, said: 'The report is full of lies. It is invalid and unacceptable, as it justifies the killing and shifts responsibility to a personal error in the field command when the truth is quite different.' The PRCS has previously called for an international investigation into the incident. Gaza's civil defence agency, which rescues victims of airstrikes, dismissed the Israeli army report, accusing the military of lying in an attempt to justify targeting the rescue convoys. 'The video filmed by one of the paramedics proves that the Israeli occupation's narrative is false and demonstrates that it carried out summary executions,' Mohammed al-Mughair, a civil defence official, told Agence-France Presse on Monday, accusing Israel of seeking to 'circumvent' its obligations under international law. Jonathan Whittall, the UN's humanitarian chief for Gaza, said the investigation did not go far enough. READ MORE: Pope Francis remembered for 'outspoken commitment' to Gaza 'A lack of real accountability undermines international law and makes the world a more dangerous place,' he said. 'Without accountability, we risk continuing to watch atrocities unfolding, and the norms designed to protect us all eroding.' Since October 7, 2023, Israeli forces have killed hundreds of medical workers and the staff of aid agencies and UN organisations in Gaza. In April last year, seven members of the charity World Central Kitchen were killed in a sustained Israeli attack on their clearly marked vehicles. Human rights organisations have long accused the Israeli military of a culture of impunity, with few soldiers ever facing justice. In 2023, fewer than 1% of complaints made against Israeli troops in the occupied Palestinian territories ended in a conviction, according to the latest US state department annual human rights report.
The Guardian
21-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Humanitarian agencies reject IDF claim Gaza medic killings caused by ‘professional failures'
The UN's humanitarian agency, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PCRS) and Gaza's civil defence service have rejected the findings of an Israeli military investigation concluding that the killings of 15 Palestinian medics and rescue workers in Rafah last month were caused by 'professional failures'. Eight Palestinian Red Crescent paramedics, six members of the civil defence rescue agency and one employee of Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, were carrying out two rescue missions when they were shot and killed by Israeli troops in southern Gaza in the early hours of 23 March. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at first claimed the medics' vehicles were not using emergency signals when troops opened fire, but backtracked after mobile phone footage emerged contradicting the account. On Sunday, it said an internal investigation had 'identified several professional failures, breaches of orders, and a failure to fully report the incident'. Gaza's civil defence agency, which rescues victims of airstrikes, dismissed the Israeli army report, accusing the military of lying in an attempt to justify targeting the rescue convoys. 'The video filmed by one of the paramedics proves that the Israeli occupation's narrative is false and demonstrates that it carried out summary executions,' Mohammed al-Mughair, a civil defence official, told Agence-France Presse on Monday, accusing Israel of seeking to 'circumvent' its obligations under international law. Jonathan Whittall, the UN's humanitarian chief for Gaza, said the investigation did not go far enough. 'A lack of real accountability undermines international law and makes the world a more dangerous place,' he said. 'Without accountability, we risk continuing to watch atrocities unfolding, and the norms designed to protect us all eroding.' Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the PCRS, said: 'The report is full of lies. It is invalid and unacceptable, as it justifies the killing and shifts responsibility to a personal error in the field command when the truth is quite different.' PCRS has previously called for an international investigation into the incident. Sunday's IDF report said the deputy commander of the Golani Brigade will be dismissed due to his responsibilities in the field and for 'providing an incomplete and inaccurate report during the debrief'. Another commander, whose unit was also operating in the area, would be disciplined for 'his overall responsibility for the incident', the military said. According to the IDF, soldiers fired on the humanitarian workers travelling in ambulances and a fire truck because of 'poor night visibility' and soldiers then violated orders by shooting at a UN vehicle which drove past 15 minutes later, resulting in the death of the driver. The bodies and vehicles were put in a sandy mass grave that could not be accessed by a UN retrieval team until several days later, after which the UN said the medics had been killed 'one by one' and two witnesses claimed at least one victim had his hands and feet bound. Postmortem results released last week showed that the men were mostly killed by 'gunshots to the head and torso' as well as injuries caused by explosives, and none of the victims had visible signs of restraint. The army denied that there had been 'indiscriminate fire' and maintains that six of the killed men were Hamas militants, allegations the humanitarian agencies involved deny. None of those killed were armed. During 18 months of war Israeli forces have killed hundreds of medical workers and the staff of aid agencies and UN organisations in Gaza. In April last year, seven members of the charity World Central Kitchen died in a sustained Israeli attack on their clearly marked vehicles. Human rights organisations have long accused the Israeli military of a culture of impunity, with few soldiers ever facing justice. In 2023, fewer than 1% of complaints made against Israeli troops in the occupied Palestinian territories ended in a conviction, according to the latest US state department annual human rights report. Dan Owen, a researcher who analyses army data for Israeli human rights organisation Yesh Din, said the vast majority of incidents go unreported. The IDF is yet to respond to a Yesh Din request made in June 2024 under freedom of information laws regarding the number of investigations and indictments in cases in which soldiers are suspected of harming civilians in the war in Gaza. In August last year, the military said it had received approximately 1,000 complaints filed by lawyers and human rights groups related to the Gaza war, and had opened 74 investigations. Four concerned the deaths of Palestinians held in Israeli detention, eight concerned allegations of torture in prisons, and the rest were related to property damage and theft.
Telegraph
05-04-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Video of attack on Palestinian aid workers contradicts Israeli account
Mobile phone footage appears to contradict claims by Israel's army that it shot at 'terrorists [in] suspicious vehicles' during a controversial attack. The video was recovered from the phone of a Palestinian paramedic who was one of 15 humanitarian workers killed by Israeli forces in the attack on March 23, according to the United Nations and the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS). Accounts from Gaza suggest some of the group had their hands or feet tied and were executed with a shot to the head. Their bodies were found in a 'mass grave' following the incident, according to Jonathan Whittall, head of the UN office for the co-ordination of humanitarian affairs. The Israel Defence Force (IDF) said it was investigating the footage, after initially claiming troops had fired on 'suspicious' vehicles with no headlights or emergency signals. The IDF also claimed the area was an active combat zone. In the footage, released by the PRCS, an ambulance and a fire vehicle with flashing red lights are clearly seen. The video was filmed in the early hours of March 23 north of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, Sky News reported. It shows the convoy coming to a stop after another vehicle veers off the road, prompting aid workers to get out. Gunfire can then be heard for at least five minutes. Eight members of the PRCS were killed, as were six civil defence members and one UN employee. A statement released by the IDF on Saturday said the incident was being looked at again in a 'thorough examination'. 'All claims, including the documentation circulating about the incident, will be thoroughly and deeply examined to understand the sequence of events and the handling of the situation,' a spokesman said. Before the footage surfaced, the IDF released a statement condemning 'the repeated use of civilian infrastructure by the terrorist organisations in the Gaza Strip, including the use of medical facilities and ambulances for terrorist purposes'. It said several members of terror groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad had been killed in the incident. The IDF did not comment on the deaths of Red Crescent aid workers but said it had allowed bodies to be recovered from the area. The PCRS said the new video had been found on the phone of one aid worker's body. The video 'clearly shows that the ambulances and fire trucks they were using were visibly marked, with flashing emergency lights on at the time they were attacked', a PCRS spokesman added. The spokesman said: 'This video unequivocally refutes the occupation's claims that Israeli forces did not randomly target ambulances, and that some vehicles had approached 'suspiciously without lights or emergency markings'.' Independent investigation The president of the PCRS said it had asked for an 'independent investigation' into the incident. 'I heard the voice of one of those kids. I heard the voice of one of those team members who was killed and his phone was found with his body and he recorded the whole event,' said Dr Younis Al Khatib at the UN on Friday. 'His last words before being shot: 'Forgive me, Mum. I just wanted to help people. I wanted to save lives.'' Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian Refugees, said the bodies had been 'discarded in shallow graves [in] a profound violation of human dignity'. In a report in The Guardian, Dr Ahmed al-Farra from the Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis, said: 'I was able to see three bodies when they were transferred to the Nasser hospital. 'They had bullets in their chest and head. They were executed. They had their hands tied.'' Others in Gaza corroborated the claims. Dr Bashar Murad, the PRCS's director of health programmes in Gaza, said at least one of the other paramedics whose bodies were recovered had his hands tied.
