LETTERS: A minister recently commented about the deaths of migrants in Sabah Immigration detention facilities.
He showed a lack of empathy in bearing the mandate to oversee the Immigration Department and its operation.
Procedural standards in these centres are poor, detainees are rarely informed of the reasons for detention, and they have little to no access to legal counsel.
Non-governmental organisations like Suhakam have reported about the centres' harsh living conditions.
It can also be seen that the rise in the number of people detained has not been matched by an increase in resources, such as budget.
The claims about poorly-maintained detention centres and mistreatment of detainees are evidenced in a report titled "A Report From Hell: Conditions Of The Immigration Detention Centres In Sabah, Malaysia", released by the Sovereign Migrant Workers Coalition.
The report said Sabah Immigration detention centres were:
DELIBERATELY neglecting sick detainees and not providing timely medical services to prevent detainees' illnesses from becoming more severe or fatal;
DELIBERATELY not referring sick detainees to a healthcare centre before their illnesses worsen;
DELIBERATELY not providing human resources, health facilities and medicines, except for the Tawau detention depot, which carried out health checks (tuberculosis tests) for detainees; and,
DELIBERATELY not making efforts to fulfil detainees' right to health. The fact remains that deaths in Immigration detention centres are preventable.
In addition, the high mortality rate, whereby 149 Indonesians died in five Sabah detention centres over 18 months between 2021 and this year, demonstrates the need to review health standards and living conditions in the centres.
The government should assess human rights violations in these centres.
A Global Detention Project report said a few questions may be considered by the government:
WHAT steps are the government taking to ensure more migrants, asylum seekers and refugees do not die in detention centres?
DOES the government have plans to provide non-custodial measures for the most vulnerable detainees, for example, pregnant and lactating mothers, refugee women and girls and those with medical and mental health needs?
HOW can the government guarantee that refugee women and girls are protected against sexual violence and exploitation in detention?
DOES the government keep track of the number of men, women, and kids held in these centres each year? Does it make these statistics available to the public?
We support the call from the report to improve the conditions and treatment of detainees. These recommendations include:
TO provide a place of detention with basic facilities (detention room, bed, food, drinking water, clothing and toilet) that is appropriate and sufficient;
TO improve health facilities in these centres, increase visits by health workers, and facilitate access to hospitals to avoid preventable deaths; and,
TO review and stop the punishment of lashing, which causes pain, and handcuffs. And also to ensure that there are no more cases of torture and cruel treatment and punishment.
SIMRAAT DHILLON
Research and advocacy analyst, Bait Al-Amanah, Kuala Lumpur
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times