KUALA LUMPUR – Amnesty International Malaysia has called on the government to review its detention centre policies, following the death of six detainees in a road accident while escaping from the Sg Bakap temporary detention depot in Penang.
In a statement, its executive director Katrina Jorene Maliamauv said that the circumstances in the detention centre leading up to the incident must be investigated transparently.
Urging the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia to conduct an independent investigation, she said that conditions at such centres nationwide should be documented as there have reportedly been past incidents of human rights violations in similar locations.
Maliamauv added that the actual number of temporary immigration detention centres in existence across the country should be recorded to see if they reflect a flawed system in need of systemic change.
The activist said that the government should also reanalyse its approach of indefinitely detaining migrants, a policy which she said was “unsustainable” and the cause of overcrowding in detention centres.
“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 stressed.
Early this morning, hundreds of detainees fled the temporary depot, much to the surprise of the nearby residents, who took photos and videos of them escaping on foot.
“In an attempt to escape at 6.50am, six foreigners were involved in a road accident trying to cross the highway. The victims are two men, two women, a boy, and a girl believed to be of Rohingya ethnicity,” Penang police chief Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said.
So far, police have re-arrested 229 escapees out of 528 with the help of nearby villagers, and called on the public to help locate the rest. – The Vibes, April 20, 2022
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