In a statement, the group also suggested that the home ministry consider allowing NGOs to enter the detention centres to see for themselves the conditions of the centres involved.

“We have received a report from the ground that there is a food and health crisis at the Kimanis immigration detention centre,” said MHO secretary general Hishamuddin Hashim.

“This report was also corroborated by family members of the detainees.”

Hishamuddin said while MHO does not wish to point the finger at someone, it urged home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail to investigate the alleged humanitarian issues at the centre.

Earlier today, Saifuddin said that a frail-looking individual who alleged dismal conditions at the Kimanis immigration detention centre in Sabah was already in poor health before he was detained.

This comes after a video clip and several photographs went viral on social media showing frail-looking individuals said to have been incarcerated at the centre.

In the video, a frail-looking man claimed that detainees were not getting enough food and drink, while requests for medicine were also not entertained by immigration officers.

Saifuddin said the detainee in the video did not become frail while in custody, stating that it should first be ascertained if the individual practised a healthy lifestyle or whether he was involved in activities that made him frail.

MHO questioned whether it is logical that all the individuals in the video were already frail before being detained at the centre.

“How long have they been detained? A month? A year? Is it logical that all of them were already in that condition before they were placed in the centre and that all of them practised unhealthy lifestyles and activities?” said Hishamuddin.

He said MHO felt it had to speak out about the issue after previously highlighting how Malaysians have been locked up and tortured abroad after falling victim to human trafficking and fraud syndicates.