KOTA KINABALU – A video clip and several photographs of frail-looking individuals said to be incarcerated at the Kimanis Detention Centre near here have gone viral on social media, purportedly over the poor treatment they received there.
The items are understood to have been initially posted on Facebook by an individual identified as Datz Ganang last night, garnering thousands of shares and hundreds of comments.
The video, which is one minute and 23 seconds long, shows one of the detainees alleging that they are not getting enough sustenance, while their bodies constantly feel itchy and are believed to have become infected.
“I have been here for close to a year. There are others who have been here for two or three years. How long will we be detained here in this centre?
“We are not getting enough food and drink, and therefore this is why our bodies are bony. Our bodies are also itchy. When we appeal for medicines from the immigration (officials), we are not entertained.
“They only entertain serious cases. So most of us who just started getting the infections are not entertained,” said the man as he pleaded that they be released as soon as possible.
A video clip and several photographs of frail-looking individuals said to be incarcerated at the Kimanis Detention Centre near here have gone viral on social media, purportedly over the poor treatment they received there. pic.twitter.com/nre3T737bF
— TheVibes.com (@thevibesnews) December 8, 2022
The detainee who claimed to have a citizenship certificate directed his appeal to the Immigration Department and Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
When contacted, the Immigration Department refused to comment on the video. The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), meanwhile, has not responded on the issue.
A Sabah non-governmental group led by a former Sabah Suhakam officer Jasmih Slamat meanwhile said he believes such incidents are happening in the detention centres.
“Suhakam must respond on the issue as this is clearly a human rights matter,” he said.
“Those detainees are also human beings and should not be treated unfairly. Human rights are for all,” said Jasmih, who is an adviser for Sabah Defenders of Human Rights.
He said the press has a major role to play in highlighting the human rights issue and making the government and public at large aware.
All operations of Sabah’s detention centres were passed to the Immigration Department from the hands of the National Security Council on January 1 last year.
Reports had surfaced regarding the ill treatment of Indonesian migrant detainees in the detention centres in Sabah last June.
A report released by an outfit called Koalisi Buruh Migran Berdaulat claimed that 18 Indonesian nationals had died inside the Tawau detention centre.
Free Malaysia Today had reported then home minister Datuk Hamzah Zainudin as downplaying reports of deaths in the immigration centres. – The Vibes, December 8, 2022
