Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) said a RCI – similar to the one established for police reform in 2005 – should be undertaken to thoroughly address systemic factors, both in legislation and in practice, that perpetuate abusive immigration detention conditions.
Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy said that reports of violence, squalid detention conditions, limited healthcare access, and extortion have been consistently highlighted by rights groups and the media.
He said this was despite the immigration department stating that it adheres to international standards in detainee treatment and healthcare, as well as regulations in managing immigration depots.
Sevan added that the immigration department’s reliance on procedural justifications continues to undermine any effort toward real accountability.
“These abuses are exacerbated by the chronic under-prioritisation of resources to improve detention conditions, deeply entrenched xenophobia, and where refugees and asylum seekers are concerned, state refusal to recognise the status of these vulnerable groups via accession to the 1951 Refugee Convention,” he said.
“Activists such as Heidy Quah and the late Irene Fernandez who spoke out against these abuses have faced judicial harassment and intimidation, exemplifying the lengths to which the system goes to silence criticism while perpetrators of abuse continue to act with impunity.
“A cycle of denial and inaction is at play here.”
He added that home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail’s rejection of the findings of independent reports, such as those by Human Rights Watch on abuses in immigration detention centres, has only perpetuated this cycle — stifling much-needed reform.
Sevan also called for Saifuddin to ensure that the immigration department immediately implements the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission’s (EAIC) recommendations on disciplinary action against the officers involved in the Bidor abuses, with these efforts publicly disclosed for transparency and accountability.
On Wednesday, the EAIC released a report stating that the abuse towards the detainees began between 2020 and 2021 when they were initially placed at the Wawasan Negara camp in Langkawi before being transferred to various immigration depots, including Bidor.
It added that a few immigration officers at the Bidor depot, including two who were previously stationed at the Langkawi camp, were found to have engaged in acts of extreme violence, physical and mental abuse towards the Rohingya detainees, causing harm to them.
The commission’s findings also cited negligence by immigration staff, inadequate monitoring as well as the poor infrastructure at the Bidor depot as contributing factors to the escape.
Immigration director-general Zakaria Shaaban said the department will wait for a “comprehensive report” from EAIC before proceeding with any action, emphasising that severe measures will be taken against those found guilty of violence or abuse.
Set up in 2011, the EAIC is a federal statutory body tasked with investigating and conducting hearings into complaints against some 20 enforcement agencies.
Earlier this year, EAIC said most of the 529 complaints it received last year were related to the immigration department.