Over 100 Myanmar Migrants Escape Malaysian Detention Center, One Dead – Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – A undocumented migrant from Myanmar lost his life in a road accident while attempting to flee an immigration detention center in Malaysia, alongside more than a hundred others, late Thursday, according to officials.

This incident marks the second escape from a Malaysian detention facility in as many years. In April 2022, 582 ethnic Rohingya refugees from Myanmar broke free from an immigration depot in northern Kedah state. Tragically, six of those migrants died after being struck by vehicles on a highway.

On Thursday night, a total of 131 migrants escaped from the Bidor immigration detention depot located in Malaysia’s western Perak state, as reported by Immigration Department director-general Ruslin Jusoh in a statement on Friday. He confirmed that one migrant had died in a road accident and mentioned that the search operations for the remaining escapees were still ongoing.

The group that escaped from the men’s block of the depot comprised 115 ethnic Rohingya refugees and 16 other Myanmar nationals, as stated by state news agency Bernama, which cited remarks from Perak police. It was reported that the deceased individual was hit by a vehicle on the highway.

Malaysia has historically been a destination for ethnic Rohingya fleeing persecution in Myanmar or from refugee camps in Bangladesh. However, in recent years, the country has rejected boats carrying Rohingya refugees and has detained thousands in overcrowded centers as part of a crackdown on undocumented migrants.