PAC finds immigration depots unsuitable for children

 

The Public Accounts Committee has found that immigration depots are unsuitable for children being held there.

This is after the committee visited the Lenggeng Immigration Depot in Negeri Sembilan in February.

The six-member delegation included then PAC chief Noraini Ahmad, Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar and Kluang MP Wong Shu Qi.

"During the PAC's visit, there was a newborn baby and other children placed together in the depot with their guardians, who had been detained.

"The depot's surroundings are not suitable nor conducive for the growth of babies and children," the PAC said in a report on migrant worker regulation activities.

The committee recommended that the Home Ministry, through the Immigration Department, must continue to pursue its "alternative to detention" pilot project for children without guardians and for those who have been separated from their parents in detention.

The alternative to the detention pilot project, it said, was supposed to be implemented in April this year.

However, Malaysiakini understands the Pakatan Harapan-era project has yet to be initiated.

The project would have seen detained migrant children placed under the care of NGO-run shelters, which would then try to locate the children's families or make efforts to repatriate them.

Besides continuing the alternative to detention project, PAC also urged the Home Ministry to work with the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry to transfer women and children from immigration depots to centres run by the Council for Anti-Trafficking in Persons.

Meanwhile, the PAC also recommended that the Home Ministry restarts negotiations with the UNHCR to resolve the registration of refugees held in immigration depots.

Works to upgrade depots under the 11th Malaysia Plan should also be continued under the 12th Malaysia Plan.

This includes allocating sufficient funds, as sought by the Immigration Department to cover welfare and medical costs, especially to curb the spread of infectious diseases. - Mkini