Tales of malnutrition deaths in Malaysian camps

Pic by J Manoharan/EXP

By G Saravanan

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on July 29, 2011:

Source:http://expressbuzz.com/states/tamilnadu/tales-of-malnutrition-deaths-in-malaysian-camps/298877.html
CHENNAI: Reports from the Malaysian government-run detention camps for migrant labourers have indicated that 15 Indians, including seven labourers from Tamil Nadu, have died of malnutrition in the last three months.
According to a Chinnasamy, who returned to India recently, seven labourers from Nagapattinam, Pudukottai, Virudhunagar, Chennai and Cuddalore districts died of malnutrition and inhuman conditions in the camps.
Chinnasamy, who was detained in such a camp for over a year for his expired visa, said, “In  Lenggeng, Tanah Merah and KLIA camps, where I was detained on rotational basis, I saw the death of 15 Indians in the past three months, due to malnutrition, since food and clean drinking water for the detainees are heavily rationed. Malaysian authorities used to give us only 150 grams of food (rice or bread) twice a day and we had to survive with it for the whole day.”

Describing the situation at the camps, he said, “Besides the food scarcity, the authorities never provided clean drinking water to detainees and the tap water, which is used for drinking as well, came from a dirty tank where dead rats used to float.”

Though the Malaysian detention camp authorities and the Indian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur have denied such deaths and claimed they were due to ‘natural causes’, we regularly get reports of such occurrences in camps from those who return to India, said S Sivasomasundaram, secretary of Migrant Employees Education for Transformation, Prevention and Protection Union.