Lawyers for Liberty urges govt to release detained migrant children

 

Human rights NGO Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has cried foul over the high number of children detained at immigration detention centres.

It sought their release on human rights grounds as well as to reduce their risk of contracting Covid-19. Numerous immigration facilities have seen virus outbreaks due to their cramped conditions.

In a statement today, Lawyers for Liberty coordinator Zaid Malek pointed to the Home Ministry’s recent revelation that 756 foreign children were in detention as of Oct 26.

Of the number, 405 children were detained without their guardians, a bulk of them (326) from Myanmar.

Zaid deemed such detention “inhumane” and questioned if any of the Myanmese children were Rohingya refugees.

“It is unfathomable as to why the authorities deem it fit and proper to detain hundreds of migrant and refugee children, most of whom are detained without guardians, in overcrowded detention centres during a worldwide health pandemic.

“The government is wilfully putting these vulnerable children at increased risk of Covid-19 infection [...] these children must not be treated as criminals as they could not have entered the country on their own volition and are entirely victims of circumstance,” he said.

Since the pandemic began, immigration detention centres in Tawau, Alor Gajah, Bukit Jalil, Semenyih, Sepang and Putrajaya have experienced Covid-19 outbreaks.

By virtue of ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Zaid said Malaysia had a duty to act in the best interests of children.

“We therefore strongly urge that the government immediately release these children from detention into the care of their parents, guardian or the appropriate welfare authorities,” he said.

Zaid further called on the authorities to stop taking action on migrants during the Covid-19 pandemic and to release detained refugees.

Malaysiakini is contacting the Home Ministry and Immigration Department for a response.  - Mkini