Place detainees, trafficking victims separately, says Immigration Dept | Malay Mail Online

Place detainees, trafficking victims separately, says Immigration Dept | Malay Mail OnlinePlace detainees, trafficking victims separately, says Immigration Dept
DARSHINI KANDASAMY
Thursday, August 5th, 2010 12:48:00
KUALA LUMPUR: Immigration Department officers have not been trained to handle human trafficking victims, only detainees.

Immigration Department director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman said this yesterday when commenting on the escape of yet another 20 human trafficking victims from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Immigration Detention Depot last Sunday.

On March 27, 16 men escaped from the depot by cutting the perimeter grill in the early hours of the morning.

He said human trafficking victims differed from others detained for violating immigration laws, as they had accepted committing an offence and seldom ran away.

“The human trafficking victims, however, were not offenders. They paid for their journey and want to reach their intended destinations.

"They will try to find ways to get out instead of being kept in a detention centre. After all, they committed no wrong, so they wonder why they are detained.”

Abdul Rahman said in the case of the other detainees, their cases were often disposed of quickly by the courts so they know exactly when they would be deported. For human trafficking victims, however, their cases would often take a long time to be settled.

He said 12 of the 20 Afghan nationals, who escaped on Aug 1, had been housed there since Feb 18 this year, while the other eight were there since May.

"If the system is to be reviewed, such victims must be housed separately from other detainees."

“Even housing them in a different block is not good enough. The Home Ministry has been trying to move them but the place is not ready yet. Under the law, they have to be housed separately and treated accordingly.”

He said this was needed because Immigration officers were only trained to handle detainees and not victims, and it only served to “compound the problem”.

Following the earlier escape in March, Abdul Rahman had told The Malay Mail the department was reviewing its standard operating procedures.

He declined to elaborate on the Aug 1 escape, and how the men, aged between 25 and 40, were able to cut the grills of two gates, or whether they were abetted in their escape by an insider.

Abdul Rahman had also said that he would not be part of the committee to ensure neutrality in the investigations.