Took me a while to get to this, but I wanted to highlight some contents of a memo Suaram submitted some time back (endorsed by a few other NGOs as well) regarding children and pregnant mothers being held in immigration detention centres.

Through our investigations and from other credible sources, we have learned that the Immigration Department is detaining scores of asylum seeker children, pregnant women and other vulnerable individuals, mainly from Burma/Myanmar, at various detention camps and prisons around the country. Since April of 2006, we have recorded at least 13 mass-scale raids at different locations around the country by the Immigration Department and RELA (People’s Volunteer Corps).

Also arrested and detained in these round-ups are children, mothers, pregnant women and other extremely vulnerable individuals who have come to this country for no other reason than to seek a safe haven from persecution and serious human rights violations in their home country.

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Dawt Khun Tial, age 3, who is being detained with her mother at Lenggeng, for example, is reported to be in deteriorating health condition. Local volunteer doctors who recently visited the child suspected a case of Tuberculosis. According to the child’s mother, Dawt Khun Tial has not been eating well since their detention and is losing weight and becoming very frail. Woman detainees reported that they suffer regular verbal and physical abuse by guards. Dawt Khun Tial and her mother were splashed with water by one female guard during one of the regular cross-legged-sitting session. Women detainees testified that children are often too terrified by verbally abusive guards who often raised their voice and verbally abused detainees in the presence of the children.

In a similar case, Ram Za Thang, (See Annex # I) another 3 year-old child is being held with her mother at Juru Detention Camp. According to the child’s father, a UNHCR-recognized refugee, who visited them on 13 November 2006 (Monday), the child is suffering from Malaria and has been to hospital for a total of five times, three times in October alone. He said the mother is also complaining of painful shoulders, which made her unable to sleep properly at night.

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For example, Par Lang who is 8 month pregnant, is still being held at Kajang prison. (See Annex # II) She was arrested on 5 October 2006 during a RELA-Immigration operation in Jalan Imbi. Par Lang is expecting child birth on 16 December 2006. Her court date has been set for 13 December and it is very likely she will be delivering her child in detention.

Do you have any idea how bad things are in Burma? Do we really need to inflict more suffering on these refugees than they’ve already experienced? To 3 year old kids? 3 years old?!

What was the government’s repsonse? (thanks to alice for fwd’ing)

(Home Affairs Ministry) Deputy Minister Datuk Tan Chai Ho said he also was not aware of them being treated badly by authorities in the centres, adding that the matter would have to be verified.

“Illegal immigrants are normally well taken care of until their case has been investigated.”

I have heard otherwise personally from refugees themselves. I’ve also heard from people who’ve been to both institutions that living conditions at the detention centres are worse than those in prison. Ever been in prison?..

For those of you who may like to get involved with some very on the ground work with refugees in Malaysia, may I recommend these good people, who I can personally vouch for.

Tags: Detention without Trial, Government Negligence, Migrants, eyewitness //