|
Detained Burmese protest wanting to go home |
 |
 |
 |
|
by Myint Maung
|
|
Friday, 03 April 2009 22:08 |
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Wanting to return home, over 180 Burmese migrant workers held in 'Samonyin' detention camp by the Malaysian Immigration Department have been staging protests since yesterday evening.
The protests have to do with their being held at the Immigration detention centre and not releasing those arrested before last December on the Thai border.
"We are demanding that we be left on the Thailand border as we nurture no hope of being released. So we are staging demonstrations," a Burmese migrant worker Nyi Nyi told Mizzima from the detention centre.
There are five barracks in the centre. Burmese migrant workers being held in two of the barracks are staging the protests.
"The living condition in this camp is appalling. It is extremely hot in the day time and very cold at night. The barracks are built only with wire netting. As for meals, only dried fish is made available. We do not receive any assistance from UNHCR either. The barracks are packed like sardines in a tin with detainees. There is no space even for lying down," he told Mizzima.
Each barrack measures 200' x 80' and accommodates about 300 to 500 detainees. There are four barracks for men and one for women detainees in the camp.
The detainees hail from Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Burma. Most of them are from Indonesia. The detainees are a mixed lot in the barracks and there are over 400 Burmese migrant workers in the camp. Among these detainees, there are UNHCR card holders, work permit card holders and undocumented illegal migrant workers.
Some detainees were contacted and rescued by their embassies. Indonesian migrants were accepted without a hitch by their authorities and sent back to their country neighbouring Malaysia.
But as for Burmese migrant workers, the Burmese embassy in Kuala Lumpur did not bother to do anything. They have no passports and no money to buy return tickets.
"Our embassy does not take any responsibility no matter what fate we face. There have been deaths, detainees have been assaulted and bones broken. Burmese detainees are usually released on the Thailand border. They never release us in the city to prevent trouble. They transfer us to human traffickers after secret deals. In this way, the migrant workers cannot spread out to other cities and no one would notice us. Neither can anyone blame the Malaysian government. We blame our inhuman and irresponsible government," a Burmese worker lamented.
"The Immigration Department told us today that we could not be sent to Thailand as the Burmese embassy turned its back on us even though they were informed about us. They said that our embassy has never approached them. So we can only rely on the UNHCR. We are not sure how much assistance we will receive from the international organization. Sometimes they do come and rescue some of us almost immediately. Some have to wait for years," Nyi Nyi said.
The camp authorities did not allow UNHCR representatives to meet detainees when they were staging protests yesterday.
The protesters will continue their protest until they are released at the earliest on the Thailand border. Other detainees being held in Barrack ‘B’ and ‘D’ will join them on Monday.
The Malaysian government backed organizations have made a series of arrests of migrant workers even from their homes in recent times. They are being held in Samonyin and other Immigration detention centers.
According to Malaysian Immigration official statistics issued in 2007, there are about 500,000 Burmese migrant workers in the country in legal and illegal categories.
|
