Violence, abuse by some officers triggered Bidor Depot breakout - EAIC
EAIC also found that JIM supervisors and members of the Malaysian Volunteer Department, who were on duty at Bidor, were found to be insensitive to the prevailing situation and that senior officers and facility supervisors failed to monitor and act to control the situation when the incident erupted.
PUTRAJAYA - The Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) concluded that extreme violence and abuse by some Immigration Department (JIM) officers against Rohingya detainees were among the causes of 131 illegal immigrants escaping from the Bidor Temporary Immigration Depot (DISB) on Feb 1 this year.
EAIC said in a statement today that the matter is among the results of the investigation conducted by the commission based on complaints received against misconduct of enforcement officers, in accordance with subsection 27(4) of the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission Act 2009.
According to EAIC, the violence and physical and mental abuse against Rohingya ethnic detainees started before they were incarcerated in Bidor in Perak, that is when they were placed in Kem Wawasan Langkawi, Kedah from 2020 to 2021.
Accordingly, the EAIC informed that the commission decided to refer the punishment recommendation against the officers involved to the JIM Disciplinary Authority and make a police report on the issue for further investigation.
In addition to violence and abuse, EAIC also found that JIM supervisors and members of the Malaysian Volunteer Department, who were on duty at Bidor, were found to be insensitive to the prevailing situation and that senior officers and facility supervisors failed to monitor and act to control the situation when the incident erupted.
The EAIC also concluded that the DISB building, which was a former camp for the National Service Training Programme (PLKN), has infrastructural weaknesses that do not meet the standards required to function as a detention depot.
In the breakout at 9.50pm, on Feb 1, a total of 131 illegal immigrant detainees escaped from DISB by rioting and damaging the depot fence.
Of the number of prisoners who escaped, 115 were Rohingya, 15 were Myanmar nationals and one was a Bangladeshi national. - BERNAMA
