More than 100 Rohingya immigrants staged a breakout from a detention center in Malaysia after a protest, resulting in one confirmed death in a road accident. This incident marks the second such breakout in two years, following a similar event in 2022 where 528 Rohingya refugees escaped from detention in northern Penang state. Six individuals were killed during that incident, and most of the others were rearrested.
The recent breakout occurred in a detention center in Perak state, with 131 detainees escaping late on Thursday. The Immigration Department Director-General, Ruslin Jusoh, confirmed one detainee’s death in a road accident. Authorities deployed nearly 400 personnel to apprehend the escapees, but details regarding the cause of the breakout were not provided.
According to district police chief Mohamad Naim Asnawi, the immigrants escaped after a riot broke out in the men’s block of the detention center. The suspects included 115 Rohingya and 16 Myanmar nationals, all males.
Malaysia, with a dominant Muslim population, is a preferred destination for Muslim Rohingya fleeing from Myanmar or those seeking to escape refugee camps in Bangladesh. While Malaysia does not grant refugee status, it hosts around 180,000 refugees and asylum seekers accredited with the UN refugee agency, including over 100,000 Rohingya and other Myanmar ethnic groups. Thousands remain in the country illegally after arriving by sea.
