Govt urged to review policy of detaining refugees indefinitely
The human rights group Amnesty International has urged the government to review its policy of indefinitely detaining certain undocumented migrants.
The call came after more than 500 detainees broke out of an Immigration Department temporary detention centre in Sungai Bakap, Penang, yesterday. Many of them were said to be Rohingya asylum seekers.
“The traumatising effect of...
The human rights group Amnesty International has urged the government to review its policy of indefinitely detaining certain undocumented migrants.
The call came after more than 500 detainees broke out of an Immigration Department temporary detention centre in Sungai Bakap, Penang, yesterday. Many of them were said to be Rohingya asylum seekers.
“The traumatising effect of detention, even for a short period of time, let alone indefinite, is well known. The government, therefore, needs to answer not only the deaths of the six individuals but also the reason why so many refugees, including children, are being detained.
“We urge the government to review its policy of indefinitely detaining migrants, which is a violation of international human rights law.
“This unsustainable policy has led to overcrowding in detention centres and now this terrible incident,” said the executive director of the group’s Malaysia chapter Katrina Jorene Maliamauv in a statement yesterday.
She said the government must fully and transparently investigate the incident, while Suhakam must also conduct its own investigation to determine whether human rights violations have taken place at the depot.
Noting previous reports of deplorable conditions and human rights violations at immigration detention depots, she said such investigations should document the “desperate” conditions of detention depots as well - especially the one in Sungai Bakap.
“The investigation should also determine how many of these temporary immigration detention centres are in existence across the country and if they reflect an untenable system in need of systemic change […]
“More tragic events could follow if the government does not address the inhumane conditions at detention centres, revise its policy of detention of individuals for immigration reasons, and grant them freedom of movement pending their asylum applications,” she said.
Bid for freedom
In the 4.30am incident yesterday, 528 out of some 663 detainees at the immigration centre reportedly forced their way through doors and barriers in their bid for freedom.
By 10am, 362 have been found and taken back into custody. Six, including two children, were killed in a road accident on North-South Expressway while making their escape.
Just over a week prior to the incident, Suhakam said it found the Immigration Department to be still detaining Rohingya refugees who were first arrested in 2020.
Moreover, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has had no access to the department’s detention depots since August 2019, meaning that it could not confirm their refugee status.
“The immigration depots are not long-term prisons. Suhakam has always requested that if there are any Rohingya refugees, please do not keep them there,” Suhakam commissioner Jerald Joseph told reporters at the time.
Malaysia is not a signatory to the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its immigration laws do not distinguish between asylum seekers and undocumented economic migrants.
The country’s attempts to deport refugees - which violates the principle of non-refoulment and exposes them to persecution - are complicated by the fact that refugees in Malaysia are often stateless, especially the Rohingya.
This meant it is difficult to secure their home country’s cooperation for deportation because the latter government won’t acknowledge them as its citizens.
The exact number of refugees in immigration detention is unclear.
However, Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin had told parliament that as of March 22, there are 4,176 undocumented migrants who have been detained for more than one year, out of 16,989 detainees spread across 18 Immigration Department depots nationwide.
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