Irene Fernández is a pioneering figure in the realm of human rights advocacy, particularly renowned for her tireless efforts in championing the rights of marginalised communities.
This article, initially appearing on Passions Vol. 56, has been revamped for the digital landscape, here exclusively on VOICE OF ASIA.
Malaysia’s success can be said to have been built on the sweat and toil of the hundreds of thousands to millions of lowly-paid migrant workers who come to the country, seeking to make a living and support their family back home by taking up jobs shunned by Malaysians in the construction and services.
Instead of being appreciated, many of them are subject to abuse and poor working and living conditions, as well as exploitation. Barely educated, strangers in a strange land, they were the marginalised of society who had no voice but one… Irene Fernández.
The founder and Director of human rights NGO Tenaganita, Fernández was driven by the mission to speak out for those who could not speak for themselves, and to protect the dignity and rights of those who were less privileged. Her stunning expose of the abuses and deplorable conditions at the detention camps holding illegal immigrants in Malaysia resulted in her being charged with “maliciously printing false news” in 1996.
In Malaysia’s longest ever trial, Fernández was first convicted and sentenced to a year’s imprisonment in 2003 and then acquitted on appeal in 2008. 13 years had come and gone but even when the threat of jail hung over her head, Irene Fernández refused to back down and continued to speak truth to power. In recognition of her advocacy for migrant workers, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award (known as the Alternative Nobel Prize) in 2005.
PASSIONS pays tribute to Irene Fernández – Social Activist, Human Rights Campaigner, Champion of the Marginalised, and Voice for the Voiceless – who passed away from heart failure at 10.58 am Malaysian time on Monday the 31st of March 2014.
R.I.P., Irene.
