The Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organization in Malaysia (MERHROM) issued an urgent appeal for the release of Rohingya detainees arrested during a raid by Malaysian immigration officers at Meru Market Complex in Klang, Malaysia, on Saturday.
“Rohingya who fled genocide in Myanmar are already traumatized and in a very difficult situation. Humanitarian assistance from transit countries like Malaysia is crucial in helping genocide survivors heal from their trauma,” wrote Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani, the MERHROM president, in a press release on Feb. 25.
The Meru Market Complex in Klang is located 18 miles (30 km) southwest of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Selangor State immigration department led the raid, which detained a total of 630 individuals, including 530 undocumented Myanmar migrant workers. This number includes Rohingya refugees and asylum seekers from Myanmar.
“This [Klang] area has seen the highest number of arrests recently. Raids are also happening everywhere [in Kuala Lumpur],” Aye Lwin, a spokesperson for the Alliance of Chin Refugees (ACR) in Malaysia, told DVB.
The 630 detained are being held at the Semenyih Immigration Detention Center in Selangor for 14 days, pending investigation. MERHROM called the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Malaysia to assist the government to ensure the protection of vulnerable groups such as the Rohingya.
“We’ve informed the [UNHCR], but we cannot rescue everyone. Those with U.N. applications can defend themselves in court,” Mon Chan, a spokesperson with the Myanmar Labour Affairs and Refugees Organization, told DVB.
Both the Myanmar Labour Affairs and Refugees Organization and ACR told DVB that Myanmar nationals with UNHCR documents, identification, or pending asylum applications will have the opportunity to present their case in a Malaysian court with UNHCR support.
This may allow them to be released from detention, but for those without valid UNHCR documentation they may face fines, prolonged detention, or deportation.
The refugee aid groups added that nearly 1,000 undocumented Myanmar migrant workers, refugees, and asylum seekers have been arrested so far this month across Malaysia, with the majority being detained in the raid on Meru Market Complex in Klang on Feb. 22.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk visited Malaysia in June and asked the government to allow refugees to have access to employment, formal education, healthcare, and other essential services.
UNHCR Malaysia reported last month that 170,920 refugees and asylum seekers registered in Malaysia are from Myanmar. This is out of a total of 192,420 registered refugees inside the country.
This number includes 111,980 Rohingya, 27,790 Chin, and 31,140 other ethnic nationalities from Myanmar, most of whom are believed to have registered with the UNHCR in Malaysia since the 2021 military coup.
