Over a hundred Myanmar refugees, one dead, escape a Malaysian prison facility

In Kuala Lumpur, an undocumented migrant from Myanmar lost his life in a vehicular mishap while attempting to escape from an immigration detention facility with more than a hundred others in Malaysia on Thursday night, as confirmed by officials.

This marks the second reported breakout from a Malaysian detention center in two years. In April 2022, 582 ethnic Rohingya refugees from Myanmar managed to escape an immigration depot in northern Kedah state, resulting in the tragic death of six migrants who were struck by vehicles on a highway.

On Thursday night, a total of 131 migrants broke free from the Bidor immigration detention depot in Malaysia’s western Perak state, according to Ruslin Jusoh, the Immigration Department director-general, in a statement released on Friday. Regrettably, one of the migrants lost his life in a road accident, and search operations are underway to locate the remaining escapees.

The escapees, predominantly comprising 115 ethnic Rohingya refugees and 16 Myanmar nationals of diverse ethnicities, had fled from the men’s block of the detention depot, as reported by state news agency Bernama, citing a statement from Perak police. The fatality, as reported by Bernama, occurred when the individual was struck by a vehicle on a highway.

Malaysia, despite not acknowledging refugee status, has historically been a sought-after haven for ethnic Rohingya escaping persecution in Myanmar or refugee camps in Bangladesh. However, in recent times, Malaysia has adopted stringent measures, refusing entry to boats carrying Rohingya refugees and detaining thousands in overcrowded facilities as part of a broader initiative to curb undocumented migration.