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.