Mistreatment of refugees by Malaysian authorities

Exclusive: Mistreatment of refugees by Malaysian authorities; claims of corruption in UNHCR

Chained and handcuffed, refugees say they are beaten, starved, and exploited by authorities

• Al Jazeera’s 101 East films exclusive footage inside a Malaysian detention centre, where refugees are chained and handcuffed
• Claims by present and former detainees of abuse, beatings and lack of food
• Speaks to UNHCR official who admits they are overwhelmed; says Malaysia must do more

Doha, 19 November: In this undercover investigation, Al Jazeera’s 101 East Senior Presenter and Reporter Steve Chao discovers horrendous conditions and mistreatment of refugees by Malaysian authorities. He also unearths claims that UNHCR staff – those tasked with helping refugees – are involved in corrupt dealings.

In Malaysia, refugees have no legal protection because the country has not signed the UN Convention recognising refugees. This means they can be arrested at any time and hauled off to one of the country’s notorious detention centres. Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, has one of the world’s largest urban populations of refugees and asylum seekers, with approximately 150,000.

To investigate conditions inside these centres, Steve Chao poses as a priest after authorities decline his many requests to film inside these facilities.

Chao encounters refugees chained and handcuffed, and others who haven’t eaten for days. He discovers refugees are kept in cells in the overcrowded centres for almost 24 hours a day. He also finds children in detention - a violation of the UN Convention on Child Rights; and meets women detained just hours after giving birth.

Detainee: “Every week, we’re allowed out just once…”
CHAO: “They don’t let you exercise or walk around a bit?
Detainee: “No… all day, every day we’re inside. In one room there are about 100 people…”

One former detainee describes being beaten with a steel pole:
Asylum seeker from Myanmar: “The hardest thing I faced in jail was being forced to take my clothes off and then being beaten, slapped and kicked in front of others.”

Malaysian authorities admit that abuse does happen in their centres but insists conditions are better than in many other countries.

101 East uncovers how UNHCR workers are overwhelmed by people seeking help, with more than 1000 refugees and asylum seekers arriving every day at its Kuala Lumpur compound.

Richard Towle, who leads the UNHCR mission, tells Al Jazeera: “We’re like an accident and emergency hospital, not a general hospital. In an accident and emergency hospital you make tough decisions all the time about triaging and prioritising who is the neediest of the people in an already needy group of people.”

101 East also discovers an illegal trade in UNHCR registration cards, perpetrated by local UNHCR representatives. A UN translator tells Al Jazeera: “All the money from this activity goes into the pockets of some top guys in the UN.…We have been doing this with him for a long time. We are thieves, and we look for thieves above us.”

101 East’s ‘Malaysia's Unwanted’ airs from Thursday 20 November at 2230 GMT(6.30am Friday, Kuala Kumpur). Join the conversation online by tweeting @AJ101East and @SteveChaoSC.

For more information, and to watch the program online after broadcast, go to:http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/101east/2014/11/malaysia-unwanted-20141118111742722400.html

ENDS

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