16 minutes
PETALING JAYA: Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin has received flak for dismissing a recent report stating that 149 Indonesian nationals died in the last 18 months while being held at detention centres.
Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor co-founder Irene Xavier said Hamzah’s comments were offensive and irresponsible.
“I feel that as the home affairs minister, he should accept that deaths in custody is a serious issue, and take responsibility for them. Even doctors are required to write reports on people who die while undergoing treatment.
“Here, we have the Home Ministry detaining people and forcibly restricting their mobility during detention. It is required to provide safe detention. So, it will be expected to explain deaths,” she told theSun, adding that it should provide post-mortem reports on the possible causes of death.
Speaking in Putrajaya recently, Hamzah downplayed reports of deaths at immigration centres, saying people should not be too quick to point fingers at the authorities.
“Naturally, fingers will point to them. If not, the Home Ministry should not detain people. To make light of these deaths is heartless, irresponsible and unacceptable,”
said Xavier.
She added that the Home Ministry should also look into whether these detainees were victims of trafficking.
“Debt bondage and corruption by employers or recruiters and government authorities should be taken into consideration. The government must work together with civil society to make migration safe. If we want to end forced labour and trafficking we have to work together. The detention of migrants must be regulated, in accordance with international human rights standards.”
Meanwhile, Alex Ong, the country representative for civil society organisation, MigrantCare, pointed out that while Hamzah was right that nobody can play God in determining the life and death of a person, detention deaths can be prevented with better detention centre facilities and a more humane mitigation programme. This would include good healthcare and protection policies for inmates.
“Death in detention is a serious misdeed. Although the warden did not kill the detainee, the complacency and lack of humanity on the part of the duty officer indirectly caused the victims’ death.
“The immigration director-general should be rational when directing enforcement officers to conduct raids on migrants for overstaying. It is cruel to put irregular migrants into congested detention centres with inhumane conditions.”
He said if Malaysia does not have sufficient space to detain irregular migrants, then the immigration director-general should come up with mitigation programmes to detain migrants at centres with professionally trained officers and adequate infrastructure.
“It is time for the victims’ governments and stakeholders to take legal action against host countries that cause such deaths, which are a crime against humanity.
“A royal commission should be formed to investigate the causes of deaths at detention centres. It must have the power to punish the officers involved.”
Xavier said the detention of migrants must be regulated, in accordance with international human rights standards.
