Immigration dept to take action on migrant escape after EAIC’s report

 

Some of the undocumented migrants who escaped from the Bidor immigration detention depot in February after they were recaptured. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

The immigration department will wait for the full report from the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) before taking action, following the commission’s revelation of the reasons for the 131 undocumented migrants to flee an immigration detention depot in Bidor, Perak.

Its director-general, Zakaria Shaaban, said the department took the EAIC’s findings seriously and would not tolerate any form of abuse of power by its officers.

“However, the department is currently awaiting a comprehensive report from the EAIC on its findings before proceeding with further action.

Should any incident of violence or abuse be confirmed, we will take strict action against those responsible,

 he said in a statement.

Earlier, it was reported the EAIC had determined that violence and abuse were among the reasons that prompted the 131 undocumented migrants to escape from the immigration detention depot on Feb 1.

The commission released its findings in a report today after completing its investigation under Section 27(4) of the EAIC Act 2009.

The EAIC said that it discovered the abuse towards the detainees began between 2020 and 2021 when they were initially placed at the Wawasan Negara camp in Langkawi before being transferred to various immigration depots, including Bidor.

It added that a few immigration officers at the Bidor depot, including two who were previously stationed at the Langkawi camp, were found to have engaged in acts of extreme violence, physical and mental abuse towards the Rohingya detainees, causing harm to them.

The commission’s findings also cited negligence by immigration staff, inadequate monitoring as well as the poor infrastructure at the Bidor depot as contributing factors to the escape.

EAIC said it would refer its recommendations for disciplinary action to the immigration department’s disciplinary unit and would submit suggestions for infrastructure improvements to the department’s director-general.

Zakaria emphasised that the department adheres to international standards, including the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (The Nelson Mandela Rules) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) guidelines on healthcare in detention.

He also said that the department complied with the relevant rules and regulations in the management of its 25 immigration depots nationwide. - FMT