COMMENT | Of RM12 Maggi, rags for diapers and cramped cells

COMMENT | I was up at 4.30am today because a woman I met in an immigration detention centre before called me. She told me she had panic attacks and was getting flashbacks and nightmares during her time in detention.

At the time, she was detained - right after giving birth - with her baby.

She told me the cells were so cramped that there was no place to sleep.

There was barely any food to eat. With no access to sanitary pads, she had to bleed through her pants every single day, and wash it under water that wasn't clean.

Her baby had to use a T-shirt for diapers. They were also given two pairs of pants and a shirt. They had to keep swapping. This meant her baby wore a wet rag as diapers.

When she was there, the Immigration Department officers called me to tell me the baby needs milk and diapers.

I bought and delivered them, but when I got there, the immigration officers said they only allowed cash. I had to hand the money to the officers and record the amount with detainee's assigned alphanumerical number - not even her real name.

I got to visit her as the immigration depot provision store was closing for the day. She was handcuffed to the table while talking to me through a plastic wall with holes in it.

I have no idea why they had to handcuff her. She was already detained, where else could she run? I told her, 'Go, buy what you need first, I will wait.'

When she came back, I asked her about the price of items at the store. One cup of Maggi Hot Cup Noodles was priced at RM12.

Throughout her time in detention, she said she witnessed people die. She said she witnessed people get beaten up. She said she was beaten up, herself.

I share this now to say the spike of 270 Covid-19 cases in the Bukit Jalil Detention Centre yesterday, following the mass arrests, isn't surprising at all. Just look at the videos of mass arrests that took place at the peak of our MCO.

Comments across social media to these arrests have been appalling. Some people say: "Get rid of all the refugees and migrants! They are the ones spreading the virus with all their dirty habits."

There was one person who commented on so many of my social media posts claiming she works with refugees. She was constantly schooling me. She told me she has more years of experience than I do - I never was competing - and that "refugees and migrants for sure have a better life here, that's why they are here".

Tell me.

Would you choose to flee your country? Drop everything and run? Choose life or death? Get separated from family? See your loved ones get locked away and not being able to do anything about it? Have family members so, terribly, scarily sick yet can't do anything about it? Stay in a foreign country and fear for your life every single day?

Tell me.

Who brought the virus into Malaysia? Refugees and migrants - they don't get the freedom of movement. They can't travel. They can't leave the country. So who did?

Tell me.

Who builds our buildings? Who are our security guards? Who does the hard, heavy lifting work in wet markets and supermarkets? Who works in our factories like slaves - producing "affordable" clothes for us to purchase and wear?

I understand the country has laws and regulations, but a global crisis, a pandemic, is not the time to attack the most vulnerable.

So much of our actions are implications of what's happening today.

I get hell and mass hate comments every time I speak up. I gain nothing from speaking up, except knowing that I am using my voice for what matters.

(Editor's Note: When contacted by Malaysiakini for a response to the above allegations, Immigration Department director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud said, "No comment".

Malaysiakini has also contacted Quah for additional details on her claims)

HEIDY QUAH is the founder and director of Refuge for the Refugees, a non-profit organisation that seeks to raise awareness on the status of refugees in Malaysia and provide education for refugee children.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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