Women Detainees Reached In Co-joint Visit of Chin Communities and Chin Christian Fellowships

6th May,2005

Kuala Lumpur

In an attempt to supporting the detainees severely suffering, Chin community and Christian Fellowship paid a visit to women detainees in Kamayang detention center which was assumed to be the outcome of a long-time endeavour.

The indefinite imprisonment terms, which is initially exercised on focus for refugees and illegal migrants as a preventive tool for the raiders (a preventive accusation by police and RELA), of women detainees from Burma those belong to Myanmar ethnicity in Kemayang detention center have been increasingly growing concerns for the whole Burma community in Malaysia due to ill-treatment and negligence by the authority, the source revealed. In addition, their physical conditions are a part of big concern that we have to count into, added one of community leaders.

“Since a series of reports reveal in the same tone that the detainees have never been received medical treatment even though they’ve been sick and infected by their set of stresses and anxieties and sufferings from several diseases caused by unhygienic foods”, accordingly reported by an associated team led by Chin Refugee Committee, Chin Christian Fellowship and Mi E District Fellowship visited the camp and reached five of prisoners at that time on Wednesday, 06 of May.

The team claimed that the women are precluded in light of access and any communities are not permitted to visit the camp prior to given registration for refugee status by the UNHCR protection team on 27.04.2010. Sadly, no updated information was available since these detainees were rounded up during the raid carried out by authority at their respective workplaces.

This is the first time, the community workers holding UNHCR card are permitted to visit this Camp after six months of plea to the authority. There is a report that 25 women from Burma are encamped in but the visiting team could reach only five detainees of them owing to restrictive rules and limited time set.

Honestly expressing namely those of the detainees met by the visiting team, they were Benedette Zam Uap Kim, Dawt Chin Sung from Chin State, Soe Soe and Mon Mon from Mon State and San San Myint from Dawai respectively.

Unfortunately, among a group of them, a Chin woman named Ngun Tha Cin is likely to be facing criminal charge if convicted guilty in court as an act to cause problem inside the camp because the authority found the mirror broken which is sent for adornment in the package by her husband in several weeks ago. She was kept isolated from other detainees and the team could not set a meeting with her during the visit. She was arrested during a massive raid carried out by RELA and Immigration in Seremban last year and she left two of her children along with her husband in their dwelling apartment.

Mon Mon, according to the visiting team, from Mon State is being suffered from unusual menstrual period and that completely had affected her skins and makes worsens her health condition while the rest of detainees are equally suffering from rashes caused by contaminated water and the dirty surroundings.

Obviously, the visit reaffirms that hundreds of refugees remain encamped are doubly depressed and stressed when they are in the neglected and uncared places. Even worse, many are in inaccessible situation that sparks the dangerous cause for life, esp, for those of related families and relatives. 

by Simon