LARUT: It is not appropriate for anyone to blame or accuse the Malaysian government for allegedly giving bad treatment to Rohingya detainees that they fled from the Immigration depot in Sungai Bakap, Penang last week, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said.
Hamzah added, if the ethnic group still considers the treatment provided by the government so far as bad, they can leave the country,
“Malaysia’s action not to release them is to be an example to other refugees so that they do not enter the country in the wrong way,” he said when he met by reporters after presenting donations to storm victims at the Selama District Council Hall near here today.
Hamzah said the action and treatment given by the government to the refugees so far was out of sympathy and humanity towards the ethnic group. Malaysia has provided good treatment including providing accommodation, food and drink to Rohingya immigrants in the country.
On the refugees in the detention, he said they were arrested because there were no valid documents and detained for a long period because they wanted them to be aware of the punishment imposed if they came to the country without valid documents.
“So we put them in jail for a period until they get tired of sitting in custody.
“So if they want to be free, there is no need to come to Malaysia and if they feel they are not treated well, they should return to their country,” he said.
Meanwhile, Hamzah asked the public not to panic with the ethnic incident that escaped from detention because they were not among the terrorists.
“The villagers should not look at the Rohingya as if they are criminals, they are all refugees.
“If you feel like an outsider, inform as soon as possible so that we can arrest and re -enter the detention center,” he said.
The Consultative Council of Malaysian Islamic Organizations (Mapim) is disputing the government’s move to detain Rohingya foreigners if there are no plans to send them back to their country of origin.
Its president, Mohd. Azmi Abdul Hamid said, this caused some detainees to be in the depot of the Immigration Department for too long so that some of them rebelled by escaping.
Meanwhile, a total of 432 Rohingya detainees out of 528 escaped detainees have been re -arrested. That number makes 96 more detainees still unaccounted for.
