Many Bangladeshis among 363 children of illegal immigrants detained in Malaysia

An unspecified number of Bangladeshis are among 363 children of illegal immigrants detained in Malaysia.

"There are 363 children aged 12 [years] and below in detention centres nationwide. Most of them are children of Indonesians, Bangladeshis and Myanmar[ese]," Malaysia's The Star reported on Friday.

They were detained along with their guardians who were staying in the Southeast Asian country without valid permits, according to the newspaper.

Currently, children of illegal immigrants have to spend a long period of time at Malaysia's immigration detention centres.

Authorities have planned to cut that period of detention time.

This move will be among the improved standard operating procedure (SOPs) to be implemented by the Immigration Department regarding children held at its detention facilities, said its director-general Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud.

He said the current procedure required illegal immigrants to be investigated according “to turn”, pointing out that illegal immigrants were detained daily and by large numbers.

“But now, our priority is to look at cases involving undocumented children of illegal immigrants and get their deportation orders.

He said the department had the authority to remand a person for 14 days and after obtaining a deportation order, another seven days to send an illegal immigrant home.

Some 800,000 Bangladeshis are now staying in Malaysia and up to 2,00,000 of them are estimated to be undocumented.

Malaysia is also one of the favourites for Bangladeshi tourists, 1,54,00 of whom visited there in 2018, up from 111,000 a year ago, according to the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board.