GEORGE TOWN – The Rohingya Society in Malaysia (RSM) has advised the remaining Rohingya detainees who escaped from the Sg Bakap immigration detention depot on April 20 to surrender themselves to the authorities immediately.
A representative for the RSM, who declined to be named, said if the escapees continued to be at large, they would continue to be under surveillance by the authorities.
“They need to go to the nearest police station or ask anyone to help send them back to the depot. They need to surrender because they are not criminals.
“If they really are Rohingya refugees, they cannot run away to another country and it is not possible for them to always be on the run,” he said.
According to Kedah police chief Wan Hassan Wan Ahmad, operations to track down 96 of the Rohingya detainees continued today, and as of 6am, 76 men, nine women, seven girls and four boys are still at large.
The RSM spokesperson said it is possible that the detainees who are still on the run are afraid to go back to the depot.
Elaborating, he said Rohingya refugees experience frequent hate speech and prejudice as they are often linked to previous incidents, such as the “Long Tiger” issue from last year and the issue involving Rohingya activist Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani in April 2020.
At the start of the pandemic, a social media post falsely claimed that Zafar wanted Rohingya refugees to be given the same rights as local citizens in terms of education and employment, which then enraged many Malaysians.
“This is not a true statement and we still face a lot of hate speech because of that,” the RSM spokesman added.
RSM, which is based in Selangor, was founded in 2010 to provide community support such as education, access to medical services and psychosocial support, and to coordinate with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and local non-governmental organisations to provide assistance to those in need. – Bernama, April 22, 2022
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