DAP lawmakers Steven Sim and Kasthuriraani Patto were today barred from visiting the Juru immigration detention camp, the site of alleged abuse and torture of detainees.

The duo, who were there to look into the claims, also said they were treated rudely by officers on duty.

They were told by the camp's officer, Akhir Ismail, that the staff had not received any instructions to permit the duo's entry.

"If we allow you in, the uniforms we wear and the salaries we receive means nothing," the officer was heard telling the MPs, who were stopped at the tall iron gates of the detention centre.

Another officer ignored the parliamentarians, while a guard known only as Balan aggressively warned journalists present not to snap photos.

Also present was Migrant Working Group representative Stanley Sudhagaran, who was not allowed entry into the camp, either.

"If they can be rude to us MPs, what about those who have no documentation or do not know the local language?" Kasthuriraani said to reporters when met outside the depot.

"Their attitude shows they may have something to hide or else they could have just allowed us to the meeting room to discuss the issue.

"We have a moral obligation to talk to the officers in charge and they have a moral obligation to talk to us," added the Batu Kawan MP.

Severe physical abuse

Kasthuriraani and Sim were at the camp today to look into the case of two Cambodian women who claimed that they saw prisoners there being subjected to physical abuse so severe, that some have even died.

The Cambodia Daily reported that the two women had been repatriated from Malaysia by Cambodian labour rights organisation Central.

The claims were immediately denied by the Cambodian Foreign Affairs Ministry, which said embassy officials visited Juru recently and were told by the staff there that the claims of abuse were untrue.

Sim (photo) said the MPs visited the centre to talk to the officers and discuss the situation with them.

"It is an open secret that we have a problem in how we treat migrants, the undocumented and victims of trafficking. It is an embarrassment when we have reports like the recent Cambodian case," said the Bukit Mertajam MP.

Sim reminded the authorities that the annual US Trafficking Report has always put Malaysia in Tier 2 or 3.

Last year, Malaysia was accorded Tier 2 (in the watchlist), improving a notch from Tier 3 (worst). Sim said this was probably because the government signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.

"We will raise these issues in Parliament, it is not just a human rights issue but the allegations of abuse and torture of detainees also concerned our country's image," he said.

'Walk the talk, PM'

Meanwhile, Kasthuriraani said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak should walk the talk and sign the Convention on Torture and the Convention on the Rights of the Refugee.

She said she had written a letter to Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, urging him to launch a thorough probe into allegations by the Cambodian women.

She had also submitted a letter to the Penang Immigration Department requesting for approval for the MPs' visit to the detention camp.

"Any statement that there are no abuses or torture in this camp is premature. A thorough probe should be launched first before that decision is made," she said.

Juru is notorious for previous claims of deaths at the hands of depot staff, and generally, immigration depots in Malaysia have been known to be in poor condition.

Malaysiakini has contacted both Immigration Department director-general Mustafar Ali and the Cambodian embassy in Malaysia and is awaiting confirmation on the matter.