It is a week since the passing of the Nigerian PhD student Orhions Ewansiha Thomas in the Immigration Detention Centre who was pursuing his studies in Limkokwing University. And yet no heads have rolled neither has there been a statement of an internal investigation by the Immigration Department to probe into the series of events that led to his sudden death.
All foreign students who are pursuing their education in Malaysia are given an i-kad, an identity card that carries all information about the student, including the validity of the student visa, the course that they are pursuing and the university or college in which they are students in. The use of this i-kad came to effect after it was gazetted on 22 Feb 2018 and is the ONLY card that is recognised by the Immigration Department which will prove if the holder has a valid pass and is equipped with a biometric chip and permanent identification number which is recognised by all enforcement agencies.
In the case of the Nigerian student, it would have taken only a few hours to verify if he was indeed a student from Limkokwing University by keying in the information into a system that exists in all major detention centres to verify that indeed his story checked out. Was it done?
Instead, he was never brought to court, in front of a magistrate to be given a chance to defend himself before his “14 day remand” was meted out to him, with the only reason given which was to check the validity of his travel documents.
If he was suspected for any crime in the country, then he must be brought to court to be heard and for him to put in his defence with a right to a lawyer and with knowledge of his embassy. Nothing like that happened and today we are faced with the death of a good man, a husband, father and student in our own Immigration detention centres.
It is an utter joke if the Immigration Department that had gazetted the ikad, disregards its very own verification card and arbitrarily detains foreign students, sometimes in hoods and masks, SWAT style to tackle a young adult to the ground and handcuffing him despite being given the ikad or even valid documentations. One even while walking back from the barber after his haircut!
This sort of overzealous enforcement SOP which has already put a black mark on our Immigration Department must be looked into seriously as it will affect the reputation of Malaysia in the eyes of the world.
Foreign students who come into Malaysia to pursue their careers with a solid foundation in education contribute over RM4billion per year and if the treatment of foreign students, foreign workers or even undocumented foreigners whether migrants or victims of trafficking does not improve in our Immigration Detention camps, then Malaysia will again make global headlines as a nation with no regard to human rights, rule of law and respecting the dignity of a person.
While I am in no way criticising the duty of the Immigration Department to vet, document and manage the influx of refugees, trafficked victims and undocumented foreigners due to economic or religious persecution, they must redevelop a new SOP on how foreigners are managed in our detention centres which are also notorious of being dirty, unhygienic and the treatment of them, whether male or female is sometimes beyond imagination.