Rights groups echo UN call to end child detention
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The Child Rights Coalition Malaysia has urged the government to do away with the detention of refugee and asylum-seeking children as it has a lasting psychological effect on them.
The coalition of several children’s rights Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) in Malaysia took up a United Nations call urging governments to end child detention by launching a month-long campaign that began on September 25.
The coalition highlighted seven main problems at the immigration detention centres – overcrowding for the 150,000 odd detainees, lack of food and clean water, poor medical care, poor sanitation, limited number of bedding and the lack of special protection or procedure for children.
Malaysia has a large refugee and asylum seeker population, mainly from Myanmar.
