1 April 2017, Sat, 11:36

Malaysian Detention Centres: 17 Bangladeshis died in last 2 years

At least 17 Bangladeshis died in Malaysia's immigration detention centres from various diseases and unknown causes in 2015 and 2016, according to the National Human Rights Commission of Malaysia.

They are among 118 people from different countries who died in the last two years, reports Reuters after reviewing the immigration centres' documents provided to the commission.
Some 83 people died in 2015 and at least 35 until December 20, 2016.

Of the victims, 17 are Bangladeshis, 63 Myanmarese, 10 Indonesians, six Indians and four Pakistanis. Other foreign nationals who died are from Cambodia, Nigeria, Nepal, Thailand, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Kenya and Tanzania.

According to officials of Bangladesh High Commission in Malaysia, around four lakh Bangladeshis are now living in the country and a good number of them are undocumented. Several thousand Bangladeshi students are also studying in the Southeast Asian country.

Undocumented foreigners are often arrested and put in the immigration centres in Malaysia that recruits Bangladeshis, but the recruitment process has always been marred by allegations of malpractices.

Contacted, Sayedul Islam, labour counsellor at Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, said they had information of one worker's death in a detention centre.

"I cannot tell you the exact figure immediately. But we have documents of every incident,” he told The Daily Star over the phone yesterday.

Meanwhile, at least six Bangladeshi workers along with a Pakistani and a Myanmarese were arrested by the Malaysian immigration authorities allegedly for falsifying documents, including passports, work passes and immigration cards, in Kuala Lumpur.

The unidentified workers' ages range from 30 to 50, reports Malaysian newspaper, The Star.
Malaysian Immigration Department Director General Mustafar Ali said the foreigners had been held in three separate raids in the city.

"The syndicate operated behind the scenes of a travel agency in Jalan Silang, Kuala Lumpur. Our investigations found that it has been falsifying documents for three years," Mustafar told a press conference yesterday in Putrajaya.