Malaysian immigration slammed over deaths of 149 Indonesians: ‘No clean water, atrocious food’
- A report by Indonesian NGOs on Malaysia’s allegedly gross mistreatment of immigration detainees found that some of them, including a man with Down syndrome, had died from a lack of basic care
- It comes as a UN expert recently also raised concerns about Rohingya Muslims in Malaysian detention centres, which reportedly include child victims of trafficking
Rights groups have accused Malaysian immigration authorities of causing the deaths of 149 Indonesian citizens who were subjected to allegedly brutal conditions while held at detention depots over the past 18 months.
In a report titled “Like in Hell”, Indonesian NGOs said there was a gross lack of concern for the well-being of detainees from officers in charge of the facilities in the state of Sabah on Malaysian Borneo, where up to 260 people – including children – were allegedly squeezed into windowless cells about the size of a badminton court, equipped with just three toilet bowls.
In one instance, depot officers had allegedly left a detainee named Nathan, who had Down syndrome and was in his 40s, to die by offering no health support even though he had been sick for an extended period, according to Abu Mufakhir, an activist with Koalisi Migran Buruh Berdaulat, or Coalition of Sovereign Migrant Workers, which prepared the report.
“Several times the officers made light of Nathan’s condition by saying ‘you can still hang on right?’, and only giving him [Paracetamol],” Abu said at the launch of the report over the weekend in Sabah.
Nathan died at the Tawau detention centre in March. The cause of death was not stated in his death certificate.
The death toll cited in the report was based on data provided to the Coalition of Sovereign Migrant Workers by Malaysia’s embassy in Jakarta, which reported 2,191 deportations between January 2021 to June 24 this year.
How can people not die when they only get two to three hours of sleep a day?
Abu said another detainee, Aris bin Siang, died in September at the Tawau centre after allegedly being denied medical treatment, despite having lost consciousness several times during his six months in detention.