Rights groups in Malaysia are calling for the release of thousands of detained refugees and asylum-seekers, after a deadly incident in the northern state of Penang April 20. Six Rohingya refugees were reportedly struck by vehicles and killed [10] when hundreds fled a detention center after breaking through barriers and attempted to escape across an adjacent highway. "There is no discernible reason as to why so many of them were cramped into a makeshift depot in the first place," stated [11] advocacy group Lawyers for Liberty [12]. Malaysia has long been a destination [13] for Rohingya fleeing persecution in Myanmar, but the government has cracked down [14] on asylum-seekers during the COVID-19 pandemic [15].
From The New Humanitarian [17], April 22
See our last report on the Rohingya genocide [18].