'118 foreign detainees die' in Malaysia in two years

Report says more than half of the 118 dead are
from Myanmar, the source for thousands of
refugees coming to Malaysia.



More than 100 foreigners have died from various diseases
and unknown causes in the past two years in Malaysia's
immigration detention centres, according to documents
reviewed by the Reuters news agency.

The reported toll, which has not been previously disclosed, is
based on Malaysian immigration department data provided to
the National Human Rights Commission, which is known by
its Malay acronym Suhakam.

Reuters reported on Thursday that documents from the
government-funded commission detailed 83 deaths in 2015
and at least 35 in 2016 up to December 20.

More than half of the 118 dead were reportedly from
Myanmar, the source for tens of thousands of refugees
coming to Malaysia, including Rohingya Muslims escaping
persecution by Myanmar's authorities and its majority

Buddhist population.

It is unclear whether the death rate is higher than in
neighbouring countries. Government officials in Indonesia 
and Thailand told Reuters they do not disclose such numbers.

The rate is higher than in countries such as the United States,
which in the last financial year recorded 10 deaths in its much

larger immigration detention system.








'Appalling'

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been a harsh
 critic of the Myanmar government and its de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi after a crackdown in October by Myanmar’s security forces led many Rohingya to flee across its borders amid multiple allegations of mass killings and gang rapes by
troops.

He has called for foreign intervention to stop the "genocide"
 in Myanmar.


Najib's office did not return calls seeking comment.


"The numbers are too many and are shocking and it calls
 for the overhaul of the system," said Jerald Joseph, one of eight commissioners at Suhakam, which is due to publicly
announce the numbers next week in its annual report on
human rights issues in Malaysia.

Joseph described conditions at the centres, some of which
 he had visited, as "appalling" and said the deaths should be
investigated as a criminal matter.

The illnesses that led to some of the deaths may have
 been caused or exacerbated by poor sanitation and food, physical abuse and a lack of medical attention, said Joseph, who was speaking on behalf of the commission.

Malaysia’s home ministry, which oversees the immigration
department, said it was trying to improve the conditions in 
the centres but that its budget was constrained.

"I agree there is some overcrowding and the conditions 
are not ideal. We are always trying to improve the 
procedures, health conditions and management of these 
sites. The problem is we hit a budget brick wall," deputy 
home minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed told Reuters.