Immigrants riot in detention camp

Thu, 06 Dec 2001 | Source: REUTERS

MALAYSIA: Around 2,000 illegal immigrants detained in a Malaysian camp rioted and burnt down some of their quarters overnight before police fired tear gas to re-establish control, newspapers reported on Wednesday.

The New Straits Times quoted witnesses as saying detainees at the Pekan Nenas camp in the southern Peninsular Malaysian state of Johor, most of whom were Indonesians, began rioting shortly after breaking their Ramadhan fast.

"They set fire to clothes. The blaze razed four or five blocks that housed the male Indonesian inmates," State Immigration Department official Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Mahmud was quoted as saying by The Sun newspaper.

"These inmates are due to be deported on Saturday," he said, adding that Bangladeshis, Singaporeans, Thais and Vietnamese were among the other detainees. --Reuters

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