
An Indonesian NGO’s report on immigration detention centers in Malaysia was just released, detailing the inhuman conditions of the centers, located in the state of Sabah. According to the Sovereign Migrant Workers Coalition (KBMB), 149 Indonesian citizens died at the five centers in the past year and a half.
The South China Morning Post (SCMP) cites numerous cases of detainees being denied medical treatment, leading to their deaths. One, a man with down syndrome, was offered “no health support even though he had been sick for an extended period.”
Interviews with detainees claim “constant physical abuse up to death.” When Suardi Bin Samsudin, a migrant worker attempted to escape, officers beat him “with their bare hands, stones, and an iron pipe to his chest and head” according to TEMPO.CO. The inmate died of his injuries.
In April, Al Jazeera reported six people including two children were killed crossing a highway after escaping a detention center. 528 people fled the facility, but most were recaptured by authorities.