PUTRAJAYA must conduct an independent inquiry into the Sg Bakap detention centre tragedy and hold those accountable, the Malaysian Advisory Group on Myanmar (MAGM) said today.

Its chairman Syed Hamid Albar also urged the government to grant the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) access to all immigration detention centres to interview the remaining detainees and inspect conditions at the centre.

He further urged the government to work with the UNHCR office in Kuala Lumpur to undertake refugee status determination for all those in detention who have not undergone it and to release all detainees who qualify for a UNHCR card.

“MAGM is alarmed at the events on April 20, 2022, where 528 Rohingya refugees, including women and children, who were incarcerated for an indefinite period at the Sg Bakap Temporary Detention Centre in Bandar Baharu, Kedah, fled the detention camp following a riot.

“Six lives were lost – two men, two women, a girl, and a boy – in road accidents on the highway as they sought to escape.

“They were not criminals; they were escaping genocide in Myanmar; they escaped to Malaysia in rickety boats to get a fresh start in life; and instead, they were put in detention camps where the greater uncertainties and lack of total liberty of movement forced them to escape,” the former cabinet minister said.

Syed Hamid said there are unconfirmed reports that the protests, or riots, as the authorities called them, and the subsequent escape was triggered by the death of a fellow Rohingya detainee who had not been given adequate medical treatment when he was ill.

He said since the MAGM’s establishment following the military coup in Myanmar last year, the advisory group has been monitoring the situation of civilians and refugees from Myanmar, including Rohingya, who have been forced to leave their homeland by taking hazardous sea and land journeys to escape persecution, torture, and death.

“Rohingya refugees who sought refuge in Malaysia have been subjected to prolonged detention and poor conditions that forced them to flee once again. Not only is the situation distressing, but it is also inhumane.

“The inhumane conditions have not escaped the notice of local and international aid agencies.”

Syed Hamid said just nine days prior to the Sg Bakap episode, Suhakam had called for the release of Rohingya detainees from immigration detention and for appropriate protection to be granted to them.

“Releasing Rohingya refugees from detention is even more important as they cannot be deported to Myanmar due to the country’s denial of citizenship to Rohingya, rendering them stateless.

“It must be reiterated that Rohingya who seek a sanctuary in Malaysia are genocide victims. Therefore, it is a gross act of natural injustice to criminalise victims of crimes against humanity.”

Syed Hamid also noted that last month, the deputy home minister reported that between 2018 and February 15, 2022, a total of 208 people had died in immigration custody.

“If Malaysians are not alarmed by these figures, they should be,” he said. – April 21, 2022.