THE Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) should conduct a public inquiry to ascertain if desperation has prompted the recent breakout of 528 Rohingya refugees from the Relau immigration detention centre in Bandar Baharu, Kedah.
Social activist and human rights lawyer Charles Hector said news reports have surfaced that there had been unrest days before the incident took place with many detainees going on a hunger strike.
Villagers cited in the news reports even heard some of the escaped refugees saying they were willing to walk and die rather than live at the detention centre.
“It seems that there was (already) some protest, discontent … and that is why the ‘illegal migrants’ broke out from the immigration detention centre … men, women and children fled,” he pointed out in his latest blog.
“But what was their grievance … what was the protest about … the hunger strike … and was it a failure of (the) Government to respond to legitimate demands that led to their ‘escape’?
“The media says ‘riot’ but I have not seen any media report clearly what was the grievance of these ‘refugees’. (By) reading the media reports, one (would) believe that these are all ‘criminals’ – and now, the police is arresting the ‘masterminds’ of this breakout.”
According to Hector, the Rohingya refugees housed at the detention centre had struggled to escape persecution from their homeland, Myanmar, by taking great risk over land/sea before reaching Malaysia.
“Malaysia seems to be ‘kind’ to refugees especially the Rohingyas. So, if all is well, why did they desperately break out of the immigration detention centre?” asked Hector.
Commenting on the remarks by Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin that Malaysia treats the Rohingya refugees well, Hector said the Malaysian law still does not recognise refugees or asylum seekers.
“In Malaysia, we classify people as ‘legal’ or ‘illegal’, ie with documentation or without documentation. So, is the minister talking about the treatment of ‘illegal’ (undocumented) migrants?” he asked.
On Thursday (April 21), human rights group Lawyers for Liberty reportedly blamed the Government for the deaths of Rohingya detainees who escaped from the immigration depot (the six detainees were knocked down by vehicles as they dashed across the North-South Expressway after fleeing their detention camp).
The group claimed there was no reason to cramp them in temporary detention centres because they could not be deported due to the “non-refoulement” principle.
“When it comes to refugees, many countries are ‘hypocrites’ – they expect the country where these asylum seekers/refugees run to to take care of them. But shouldn’t the United Nations (UN) be responsible financially by providing proper housing, food, healthcare, etc – and not expect Malaysia to bear it all?” asked Hector.
“Once, identified as refugees, they are sent to third countries who are willing to accept them, and here is the second hypocrisy as many countries pick and choose rather than welcoming all refugees.
“Nowadays, there is lesser countries that are willing to take refugees. What governments like Malaysia ended up doing is to help the UN look after the refugees.” – April 25, 2022
Pic credit: Reuters
