During a discussion on migrant workers organised by the Bar Council, Suhakam commissioner Lok Yim Pheng spoke about the children’s right to education.
She recommended setting up designated areas within depots or providing children with alternative shelters so they will be able to carry on with their education.
She added that during recent discussions with the ministry, Putrajaya had said it was looking into setting up temporary shelter homes to provide a conducive environment for the children.
“We observed that children who are below 18 years of age were being put in the same cells as adults. They should be in school, not in the detention centre with the adults,” she said.
On deaths in immigration centres, she listed health problems and negligence as possible reasons.
She noted that the number of deaths had decreased due to improvements by the Immigration Department.
However, she said, migrants in these centres still required accessible health clinics and medical facilities.
“Immigration officers, especially in the depots, should study the standard operating procedures that they have now,” she added.
Meanwhile, the deputy director of operations, investigations and prosecution of the Immigration Department, Eadie Nur Faizal Osman, told reporters on the sidelines of the discussion that the department only detained children found with illegal workers as a last resort.
He said the department would look into alternatives before detaining them. “When it comes to young children, of course we will have sympathy,” he said.
However, he argued that illegal workers would sometimes use their children as leverage to avoid being detained.
“They think we won’t arrest them because they have children, so sometimes we are forced to do it in certain scenarios to send the message that we will not tolerate this excuse. Don’t use or involve your children,” he said.