I do Not Care

Yangon (AsiaNews) – Hundreds of Burmese are being held in remote Malaysian refugee centres, locked up and handcuffed in prison-like conditions. Relatives and friends are forced to be body searched and registered; unscrupulous merchants sell goods at exorbitant prices; women are abused, humiliated and forced to strip in front of guards. All of the refugees had to flee their homeland to escape abuses by the ruling military junta.

Without papers the refugees are treated like criminals, packed in rooms a hundred at a time without any basic human rights.

One source working for an NGO that is in touch with the refugees spoke to AsiaNews about one such centre, describing its horrors.

“It took us about four hours to reach there,” said the source, who preferred to remain anonymous for security reasons. “It is situated in a very remote area where public transport is not made available. [. . . ] I gave my handset and identity card to the officers whereas my friends gave their passport and handset.”

This was followed by a body check by a female officer, and a statement to a counter officer that included “the name, sex and also body number” of the person visitors wanted to see.

During the “30 minutes” of waiting the source saw episodes indicative of the type of atmosphere that prevails in the centre.

“I saw one of the female detainees walking with a handcuff and that really caught my attention. I was very surprise and upset to see what was going on. I was just thinking to myself, why handcuff a female? How can she escape? Even if she escapes how could she get away because the detention centre is so isolated and far? It doesn't make sense. She is not a criminal. Does she deserve this treatment just because she doesn't have a proper document?