THE statement by Immigration Department director-general Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud that the government spends nearly RM3.5mil on the monthly food bill for detained immigrants, as reported by The Star Online on June 22 (bit.ly/star_migrants), raises serious concerns about the management of immigrant detention centres.
According to Khairul, this is what it costs to ensure the detainees receive adequate food, which is a basic human right. Indeed, food is a basic human right. However, civil society organisations such as Tenaganita, which has long worked with immigrants and refugees and has considerable experience in dealing with detained immigrants, have consistently received reports that the food provided is hardly adequate, of extremely poor quality and insufficient, leaving the detainees hungry most of the time. In fact, immigration detention centres have often been described as a living hell.
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