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PETALING JAYA: An international human rights group has joined Putrajaya’s call to release all children held in immigration detention centers, citing concerns about their well-being.
In a statement, Human Rights Watch (HRW) also said that the government should allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) access to detention centers.
As of October 26, HRW said, a total of 756 children, almost half of whom are from Myanmar, are being detained in centers across the country without their parents or guardians.
“It is appalling that Malaysia is detaining so many children in overcrowded and unsanitary detention centers, often without parents or guardians,” said Phil Robertson, HRW Deputy Director for Asia.
“These vulnerable children, including many who probably fled the atrocities in Myanmar, must be cared for, not treated as criminals.”
Robertson said the detained children were exposed to health risks, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress and suicidal thoughts.
He said it also exposed them to the risk of sexual abuse and exploitation, even when children are not detained with unrelated adults.
He said that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Malaysia is a party, prohibits the detention of children on immigration grounds.
“Immigration authorities must stop gambling with people’s lives and immediately release all detained children and allow the UN refugee agency access to all detained refugees and asylum seekers,” said Robertson.
Since the shutdown, the government has cracked down on undocumented immigrants, conducting raids and detaining many in immigration detention centers.
Health and human rights groups have warned that this is counterproductive to efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19.
