PETALING JAYA, March 6 — Prolonged detention at Immigration detention centres is a costly process, so why does Malaysia keep detainees for a long period?
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW) researcher Jerald Joseph, the problem lies in the Immigration Act 1959/63 that allows up to 14 days of detention just to verify the status of a detainee, even when technology has evolved significantly since the Act came into force.
“The Immigration Act allows them 14 days for detention for (UNHCR) verification and in the modern day and time, guess how long it takes to verify?
“Why waste resources of the nation by keeping them in police lock-up or detention just for the sake of verification?”
“This government now is struggling to make its Budget work, why waste money here?” Joseph asked during the launch of HRW’s We Can’t See the Sun: Malaysia’s Arbitrary Detention of Migrants and Refugees report here, today.
Joseph was also a former commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) for six years until he resigned in 2022.
Shayna Bauchner, the author of the report published today, echoed his view, saying that the problem largely lies in laws that grant broad powers to the Immigration Department and a lack of checks and balances.
Bauchner said that there were humane and cost-effective alternatives to detention that the government could explore.
UNHCR currently does not have access to Malaysia’s Immigration detention centres, while Suhakam has limited access.
The lack of access to detention centres was also a flaw that opened the door to all sorts of alleged undesirable treatment, Joseph said.
Joseph added that HRW will be meeting the government to discuss how the situation described in today’s report can be changed.
“The spirit of the report is to present it to the government.
“We hope the new government will take it seriously.
“This afternoon, we are meeting the director-general of Immigration,” Joseph said.
He also divulged that HRW will meet the Foreign Ministry soon but was unsure when HRW will meet the Home Ministry.
HRW has met the Deputy Minister of Law and Institutional Reform M. Kulasegaran.
Today, HRW released a 60-page report detailing the alleged treatment faced by refugees, asylum seekers and migrants detained at Malaysian Immigration detention centres, alleging inhumane treatment by Immigration officials.
Malaysian law does not distinguish refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants.
HRW is an independent human rights watchdog that investigates and reports on abuses happening all over the world and advocates for change.
The report was based on interviews with over 40 people including former Immigration detainees, family members, lawyers, humanitarian aid staff, and former Immigration officials.
Last month, Immigration Director-General Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said a total of 10,467 undocumented migrants have been detained out of 19,873 screened between January and February this year. A total of 4,639 have been repatriated, while 75 employers have been arrested for employing them.
