They urged the government to address the dire conditions and stop detaining undocumented migrants and refugees, in order to address the poor living conditions and overcrowding at these centres.
A riot that broke out at the detention centre at Relau in Bandar Baharu, Kedah, escalated into a breakout, with more than 500 Rohingya detainees fleeing the centre.
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Six of them, however, died in a road accident while making their escape. Those killed were two men, two women, a girl and a boy.
Heidy Quah, the founder of Refuge for the Refugees, said the huge number of Rohingya detainees who fled from the centre proved that it was overcrowded.
She said that living in unacceptable conditions while being denied access to basic human rights for a long period of time could have led to the riot and breakout.
“It is a waiting game for them. Most are being detained indefinitely without a chance of release and this is clearly a violation of human rights,” she told FMT.
Quah said there was a need for collaboration between the government and NGOs to improve the conditions at these detention centres, adding that the NGOs were more than ready to work with Putrajaya.
“Taxpayer’s money should be channelled for this purpose instead of wasting it on arresting refugees,” she said.
Tenaganita executive director Glorene Das called for independent organisations such as the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) and civil society groups to be allowed to visit these centres to ensure they complied with international standards.
She urged the government to stop criminalising undocumented persons, saying their offence was merely “administrative”.
“The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) should be given access to process the documents of refugees so that preparations for resettlement can be processed,” she told FMT.
Activist John Quinley of Fortify Rights, who has documented abuses against the Rohingya in Myanmar, Bangladesh, Malaysia and India, urged the government to end its policy of detaining refugees.
“No one should be detained for their immigration status. The government should provide protection and access to services for these genocide survivors who have fled violence in their home country,” he told FMT.