KUALA LUMPUR: A social activist took to task those who are quick to criticise government authorities, especially immigration officials, over the Rohingya depot riot incident at the Sungai Bakap detention centre.
Social activist Kamal Affandi Hashim instead encouraged them to reflect on Malaysian hospitality rendered to refugees in the country.
Kamal Affandi, who is also a crime analyst, said activists and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) should open up their own private centres to house refugees if they think that what the government is doing is wrong and take care of the detainees' livelihood according to their own standards.
He said all these years, Malaysian hospitality has been provided selflessly and detainees should be thankful for the privileges they enjoy which are not limited to just daily meals and comfortable shelter while waiting for their turn to be sent back home or resettled in other countries.
"The cost of each person is RM40 per day for their food in detention (but) we don’t send the bill to their respective countries as it is under the courtesy of the Malaysian Government,” he told Bernama.
In terms of the procedures that a detainee goes through, Kamal Affandi said if a detainee claims that he is from a neighbouring country, the Immigration Department cannot send the detainee back without going through proper channels of identifying and confirming the persons’ identity with the country itself and only then the detainee can be sent back home.
"If there is a delay in these protocols, they could end up staying longer than expected. Our government has proven in the past and will do so in the immediate future that we want to alleviate the problems of refugees,” he said.
Kamal Affandi said the majority of the refugees in Malaysia are from South-East Asian countries and these countries have to be forthcoming on their part by being proactive in documentation or validating that it is their citizens who are in Malaysia.
He lauded the efforts by the Malaysian Government which was willing to convert former National Service Training Programme camps that were not utilised due to discontinuation of the programme as designated transit points or detention depots to avoid overcrowding in the actual detention camps.
"I would like to commend the process that went into changing the camps as transit immigration detention centres. However, we have to emphasise on the ratio of people under custody and the manpower.
"For a camp of more than 700 detainees and about 27 officers, you’re looking at one officer for about 26 detainees which is not ideal,” he said.
On whether the fleeing detainees pose any harm to either the local communities nearby or a threat to national security, Kamal Affandi said it would be peculiar for anyone not to be alarmed by the escapees' presence.
He said some good did arise from such incidents, which was the importance of coordinated efforts by the authorities.
"Although Immigration would have their methods in guarding their centres, it is advisable for the commandant to have strong relations with the local authorities, either the police or other enforcement agencies, as this will help to ensure to minimise the risk of such incidents happening and to increase the level of cooperation and understanding amongst them,” he said.
Prior to this, Mahi Ramakrishnan, a refugee rights activist who runs non-profit organisation Beyond Borders had suggested that it is about time the government sat down with civil society organisations and other key stakeholders to work on the ground in creating safe passage towards asylum for refugees, as well as give them access to education and healthcare.
At about 4.30am Wednesday, 528 Rohingya detainees broke out from the Sungai Bakap detention centre in Kedah.
The majority of them have been recaptured and police are tracking down the escapees still at large.
Six of the escapees were killed after they were hit by a vehicle while crossing KM168 of the North-South Expressway (southbound) near Jawi, Penang. Jawi is very near to the centre. - Bernama