Parched refugees and asylum seekers detained at Malaysian immigration centres drank toilet water out of desperation, according to a report published in The Guardian.

"They gave us only one small cup of water with our meals, otherwise we had to drink toilet water," 18-year-old Rohingya refugee Mouyura Begum told the UK publication.

Mouyura, who was detained for a year at the Belantik centre in Kedah, also claimed that guards at the detention centre beat the refugees.