HRW criticizes torture in Malaysian detention centers

Refugees detained in immigration detention centers throughout Malaysia. Human rights watchdog HRW said in a statement on Wednesday that the problem of political asylum seekers and migrant workers in total of twelve thousand should be solved in another way.

Detention of foreign prisoners for long periods of time without being able to effectively command and detain them according to the law is a violation of international human rights law, he said. HRW's statement came after more than 130 prisoners escaped from a detention center in Perak state last month, killing one refugee in a highway crash.

Shayna Bauchner, HRW's Asia Research Director, said Malaysian authorities treated these migrants like criminals and detained them unlawfully for long periods of time, cutting off contact with the outside world.

He said the Malaysian government should emulate other countries that are dealing with immigration in better ways. Instead of being detained in detention centers, children He said that the rights of refugees should be respected.

According to HRW, 20 detention centers across Malaysia hold undocumented people until they can be returned to their countries of origin by the Immigration Department. According to illegal reports, there are between 1.2 million and 3.5 million undocumented immigrants in Malaysia. These people are Myanmar, Indonesia Bangladesh Nepal India Cambodia and other countries, HRW said.

Among them, there are more than 180,000 political asylum applicants registered with the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR, and more than half of them are Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. Malaysia is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention.

According to HRW's report, those arrested, including 1400 children, are being unjustly tortured and denied their basic rights.

Malaysian Home Affairs Minister Saifuddin Nasution responded by saying that although many people are being held in detention centers, they are not overcrowded. Some of the children were also separated from the detention center in two other appropriate camps, he said.

Those arrested in those detention centers were beaten and beaten. In addition to not having enough drinking water, there are also outbreaks of disease, he said.

HRW recommends that these people be housed and given the rights they deserve under the law, health care and education opportunities.