813 children from Burma held in Malaysia ‘camps’

21 October 2015, Kuala Lumpur — 813 children from Burma are among 71,362 detainees held in Malaysia immigration detention centers, famously known as ‘camps’ among refugees in the country.

According to a written reply in Malaysia Parliament, a total of 1,918 children are held in detention centers nationwide with children from Burma topping the list.

Other children held in detention centers are from Indonesia (422), Philippines (295), Cambodia (121) and 267 from other countries, according to Ong Kian Ming, a member of Parliament (MP).

Kian Ming has urged the government to arrange a visit to detention centers to look into the welfare of the 1,918 children there.

Another MP, Kasthuri Patto, said that 1,918 children being detained is an alarming number.

“Are the children getting proper education, protection, nutrients and medical care?” she said as quoted by a local news portal.#