Police Brutality At Illegal Immigrants Detention Centres

The alleged police brutality at illegal immigrants detention centres around Sabah may or may not be true.

After all, Malaysia police are quite well known for their brute force inflicted to suspects and detainees.

Moving on, the only big news so far on Ops Sepadu is the alleged police brutality. No detailed statistics was given on how many illegals was caught, how many currently being detained and how many already deported. Bit and pieces of information suggest that the number of illegals is only a few thousands when in actual fact there are a few hundred thousand illegals lingering in Sabah.

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From Daily Express News

Sabah denies Filipino detainees beaten

Kota Kinabalu: Sabah has brushed aside claims that Filipinos were severely beaten in detention centres prior to their deportation in the on-going large-scale offensive against illegals in the State.

In an immediate reaction to an AFP report Saturday, State Secretary Datuk Sukarti Wakiman, who heads the operation, said there have been no such instances at the temporary detention centre in Menggatal and Kota Belud to which illegal immigrants are sent after being arrested.

"As far as I know, there have been no reports of abuse during the Ops Sepadu," he said, in a telephone interview.

After a thorough documentation process, he said Filipino detainees would be sent to Sandakan while Indonesians to Tawau for deportation to their land of origin.

"There are also other operations on the side, which are normally done now and then, but again there are no such reports," he said.

A member of the Philippines House of Representatives and of the Fact-Finding Committee on Sabah Deportees, Luzviminda Ilagan, was quoted by AFP in Zamboanga, Philippines as saying that Filipino detainees and those already deported to the Philippines have experienced severe beatings from Malaysian police while under detention.

She also claimed thousands of Filipinos, including women and children, remained in Malaysian detention centres "and suffering from inhumane conditions".

To this, Sukarti said Philippine and Indonesian representatives who had inspected the Kota Belud detention centre, which is looked after by the Special Federal Taskforce, were satisfied with what they saw.

"A Philippine ambassadorial representative and (a representative) from the Indonesian Consulate checked the centre and were satisfied with how it is run," he pointed out.

Sukarti said there are presently 2,057 detainees at the Menggatal and Kota Belud centres, adding 1,223 of the detainees in Menggatal also include those not arrested under Ops Sepadu.

"A total of 1,205 Filiipinos have been deported, Indonesians (634) and Pakistanis (8). These (deportees) do not only involve those detained in Ops Sepadu but also in normal operations," he said.

Sukarti said more than 1,000 illegal immigrants were roped in since the operation started in August, adding close to a thousand detainees were still awaiting deportation in the centres.

A senior police officer, meanwhile, refuted the abuse claims, saying those detained in the operation were very well treated, documented and looked after by the authorities.

"We will check thoroughly even before and after the detainees are brought in," he said, adding there were also daily morning briefings on the number of detainees in the detention centres.

He said there were no reports of brutality in the centres, pointing out there was no truth behind the AFP report.

Ilagan, as reported by AFP, had urged the Philippine Government to provide the deportees with aid to ensure they would not return as illegals to Sabah, and also pushed for a House-level inquiry into the alleged abuses by Malaysian police.

According to the AFP report, the Philippine Government estimated about 200,000 of their countrymen were living and working in Malaysia without valid visas and nearly 3,000 were in jail waiting to be deported.

Meanwhile, Sabah Commissioner of Police, Datuk Noor Rashid Ibrahim, who was contacted in the peninsula, said police would investigate the matter if an official complaint were made.

"If there is a report, then we will investigate and probably take action. My advice is to file an official report," he said.

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From TheStar

Hamid: Cops didn’t beat up deportees

PETALING JAYA: The Home Ministry has denied allegations that the police had “severely beaten” illegal Filipino workers who were detained pending deportation.

Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said he had no information of such ill-treatment.

He said he was happy with the co-operation extended to the Malaysian authorities by Filipino officials overseeing the repatriation of the detainees.

“I’m surprised that such an allegation surfaced. Firstly, no illegal has ever been kept in any police detention centre because all those without documents are detained in immigration detention centres,” he said when contacted yesterday.

It was reported in the foreign wires yesterday that illegal Filipino workers expelled from Sabah were severely beaten by police while under detention.

This was according to a member of the Philippine House of Representatives and a fact-finding committee on Sabah deportees.

It said thousands of Filipinos remained in Malaysian detention centres “suffering from inhumane conditions.”

Syed Hamid said there had been no report lodged against the police over the issue. Malaysia carried out fresh crackdown on illegals early this year and thousands of Filipinos have been deported since.

Asked if he would consult the Filipino counterpart to clarify the situation, Syed Hamid said: “Why should I? We are not subjected to the legislative body of another country.”

“It is their right to discuss it in the House of Representatives but the best thing is for them to go through diplomatic channels, lodge a complaint and give us specifics.”

Syed Hamid urged the Filipino officials to furnish the authorities with details so that an investigation could be carried out.