JK Associates principal consultant Khen Han Ming made the call after US ambassador to Malaysia Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir revealed that the US had no immediate plan to add Malaysia or any other country to the list of nations enjoying its visa waiver.
Speaking to FMT, Khen speculated that Washington probably considered Malaysia a country with risks that were too high to make it to the list.
“Malaysians were involved in the Marawi battle between terrorists and government troops in the Philippines, they are sympathisers in the Rohingya issue and some are involved in cross-border syndicates, human trafficking and much more,” he said.
“All these add to our risk profile.
“Political extremism is another issue. Islamic conservatism is gaining prominence.”
Khen said the US probably felt it had reason to be cautious, especially over the Islamic State (IS) terror group’s shift of focus from Syria and Iraq to Southeast Asia and the growing radicalisation in the region.
“There’s concern about the return of Malaysians who joined jihad groups elsewhere. We actually have a good number of them from the Afghan war. Some of them eventually joined Jemaah Islamiyyah and IS.
“There are an estimated 800 to 1,000 supporters of IS in Southeast Asia, including those who travelled to Iraq and Syria, their family members, those killed in battle, those arrested and those repatriated by the Turkish security forces.”
Khen said even if Malaysia were to address all the security issues there would be other factors to prevent the US from including the country in its no-visa scheme.
“Militancy and terrorism aside, I’m sure the US government has other considerations which are mostly political or economic in nature. But that’s not my forte.”
Meanwhile, moderation advocate Mohamed Tawfik Ismail told FMT he believed the non-inclusion of Malaysia had more to do with US politics than anything else.
He said he believed former US ambassador to Malaysia, Joseph Yun, was given a lot of latitude in getting Malaysia the visa waiver during Barack Obama’s presidency.
“At the time, I think Malaysia was seen as a bulwark of anti-terrorism in Southeast Asia,” he said. “Yun left just before the US presidential election and was expecting a promotion in the State Department if Hillary Clinton won.
“However, Trump came in and I think the State Department was in disarray and Yun was given responsibility for North Korea instead.
“So maybe Malaysia doesn’t have a champion in the State Department anymore.”