STATELESS children born in Malaysia are being thrown into detention centres and forced by the Immigration Department to admit to crimes they never committed, alleged a coalition of Sabahan civil society groups.

Gabungan NGO Negeri Sabah (Gannos) secretary-general Mohd Sayadi said stateless children had been forced to admit they had violated the Immigration Act by entering the country without valid documents.

Sayadi said that they were not aware of their rights, and were being denied bail and legal representation.

“We have found instances where the authorities have used this law against them. Those who flout the law face not more than five years’ jail and caning.

“Isn’t this abuse of the law and cruel? Gannos also found those detained under the law were denied bail and legal representation,” he said in a statement today.

He said under Section 6 of the Immigration Act, the burden of proof lies on the accused and not on the officers prosecuting them, the accused therefore being not entitled to legal representation and bail.   

“Imagine the lives of those who are poor and do not have any identification.

“These children are not involved in bureaucratic matters. This is clearly a violation of human rights and abuse of the existing immigration laws by the authorities,” he said.

He said another concern was that these children were not accepted by their countries of origin after being separated from their parents.

He said the children were also thrown into dirty, unkempt, and flooded detention centres and had to endure months of detention without getting enough food.

Sayadi said the present enforcement carried out by the department will further aggravate the situation surrounding stateless people in Sabah.

“They were born in Malaysia and did not enter this country illegally. Therefore, they deserve to obtain citizenship fairly.

“The use of Section 6 is clearly a violation of human rights, and Gannos agrees with the Sabah chief minister and prime minister that we need to reform the country’s immigration system,” he said.

Sayadi said Gannos wants the government to establish a moratorium and stop arrests and detentions under Section 6 of the Immigration Act of those born in Malaysia. – September 8, 2018.