Foreign missions ask KL to clarify camp deaths

Foreign missions ask KL to clarify camp deaths

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): Foreign embassies whose nationals were
among 42 people who died at a Malaysian immigration camp said
yesterday they had been kept in the dark about the deaths.

The deaths were publicized by opposition leader Lim Kit Siang,
who visited the high-security Semenyih detention camp for illegal
immigrants earlier this week.

The victims -- 28 Bangladeshis, seven Indonesians, five
Indians and one each from Myanmar and Nepal -- were among 9,000
illegal immigrants housed in nine detention camps throughout
Malaysia.

They were reported to have died over the last two years from
malnutrition and related illnesses.

"We have asked for clarification from the Foreign Ministry,"
Indian Deputy High Commissioner Deepak Vohra said.

"On average, we've been visiting detention centers once a
quarter, especially Semenyih, but we were never informed about
these deaths," he told Reuters. "As per the Vienna Convention, we
would expect to be informed, if these reports are true."

A Bangladeshi High Commission (embassy) spokesman said the
mission only heard about the deaths in news reports.

The Indonesian embassy spokesman said: "We have not yet
received any report from the Malaysian police or immigration
about this matter."

A local women's organization, Tenaganita, said earlier this
month the Bangladeshis died from "abuse, torture and dehumanized
treatment."

Deputy Home Minister Megat Junid Megat Ayub denied that, but
he confirmed the deaths at Semenyih, saying the victims died of
exhaustion and malnutrition.

Lim, who is general-secretary of the Chinese-based Democratic
Action Party, has called for an investigation by the Home Affairs
(interior) Ministry.

"For the good name of the country, these sorts of conditions
should not continue," he said during a visit on Wednesday to the
camp along with other opposition parliamentarians.

Lim said he had been informed the camp was spending 2.90
ringgit (US$1.16) daily on an inmate's food. "This should be
raised considering that the country makes about 400 million
ringgit ($160 million) a year from levies on foreign workers."

Malaysia's booming but labor-short economy has been a magnet
for workers from its more populous neighbors. Malaysia is host to
more than one million legal workers, who toil mostly in the
construction and plantation sectors or as maids.

But economists say there could be another one million illegal
workers in the country.

Thousands come from Indonesia, sailing across the treacherous
Malacca Straits in overcrowded boats that often run without
lights, occasionally resulting in fatal sea accidents.

Indians, Bangladeshis and Myanmarese sneak across the Thai
border through long-established smuggling routes.

Lim said the camp's records showed that some of the
Bangladeshis who died had spent months in detention while they
were ill when they should have been in hospital.