Immigration Dept denies abuse at detention centre

The Immigration Department today dismissed as untrue an allegation of detainee abuse that had caused deaths at an immigration detention centre in the country.

Immigration director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali said a preliminary investigation revealed that there was no truth to the allegation.

"We conducted an investigation and found the allegation to be untrue," he told Bernama on the sidelines of the International Conference on Blue Ocean Strategy here.

Mustafar said the department would issue a detailed statement on the investigation soon.

Two Cambodian women had reportedly claimed that they saw how detainees at the Juru immigration detention centre were subjected to severe physical abuse that resulted in their deaths.

The Cambodia Daily reported that the two women were repatriated from Malaysia by the Centre for Alliance of Labour and Human Rights of Cambodia.