The MIC wants the home ministry to undertake a detailed study on the effects of the Simpang Renggam detention camp in Johor on the inmates, especially remand prisoners, MIC president S Samy Vellu said.

He said the ministry should not have jumped to conclusion in rejecting "outright" the party's request to have the camp shut down "merely because some felt the MIC was playing the racial card."

"There is a need to visit the camp to see what is really happening," he told a news conference after presenting Tekun business loan cheques to 109 recipients in Kuala Lumpur today.

NONE Samy Vellu was commenting on the statement by Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein last Friday that the government would not close the camp as requested by the MIC.

Hishammuddin was quoted as saying that the MIC "should stop playing politics and not harp on sentiments".

Samy Vellu called on all parties to be "more responsible" and not act based on emotions, and stressed that the MIC was "in the business of politics".

"We (MIC) were taken aback when the minister (Hishammuddin) rejected our request on the same day we made the appeal (to close the camp) without even considering it thoroughly.

"Let us do a detail study first and see what is happening to the inmates, many who have had their detention extended after two years," Samy Vellu said, adding that he was referring to all the inmates and not just Indians.

He explained that a prisoner on remand was someone who has not been formally tried in a court, and he or she was presumed to be innocent under the principles of many legal systems, and therefore the prisoner was entitled to special benefits and treatment which were not offered to regular prisoners.

Samy Vellu said he visited the camp in 2007 when he was the works minister and witnessed the "improper conditions" of the inmates.

"I hope with my explanation, the minister (Hishamuddin) will reconsider his decision, maybe not to close the camp, but to review the procedures and operations of the camp," he added.

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