Why detain refugees if govt can't deport them? – Suhakam

 

Suhakam has urged the government to explain the reasons behind the arrest and detention of refugees at immigration facilities with no immediate deportation plans.

This follows Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin's confirmation that the 528 detainees who fled the Sungai Bakap immigration detention centre yesterday were Rohingya refugees held there since 2020.

Citing Hamzah's statement, Suhakam commissioner Jerald Joseph questioned the government's move to place the refugees in "indefinite detention".

"If you acknowledge they are refugees, then why do you keep them in indefinite detention?

"Why hold them in custody when you know you can't deport them?

"The immigration depots are designed to only be a temporary facility pending deportation," he told Malaysiakini when contacted today.

Suhakam’s concerns

Joseph said Suhakam's concerns include grounds of arrest and manner of detention, as well as the power of the Immigration director-general in dealing with such cases.

He noted that while Malaysia is not a signatory to the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, in the past, other arrangements were made to accommodate refugees from other countries, including those from Aceh, Indonesia.

Joseph said Suhakam is also planning a visit soon to the Sungai Bakap depot, one of several newer immigration detention facilities - converted from a national service camp - set up to reduce overcrowding and facilitate Covid-19 prevention procedures.

On the role of the UN Refugees Agency, Joseph said unless permitted by the Home Ministry, no officials can access the immigration depots for purposes of verifying the identities of the refugees.

The immigration laws do not distinguish between asylum seekers and undocumented economic migrants.

Attempts to deport refugees - which violates the principle of nonrefoulement and exposes them to persecution - are complicated by the fact that refugees in Malaysia are often stateless, especially the Rohingya.

This means it is difficult to secure their home country’s cooperation for deportation because the latter government won’t acknowledge them as its citizens.

The exact number of refugees in immigration detention is unclear. Hamzah had told Parliament that as of March 22, a total of 4,176 undocumented migrants have been detained for more than one year. There are 16,989 detainees spread across 18 Immigration Department depots nationwide. - Mkini