Rela personnel would oversee the security aspect of the depots instead of prison officers.....

The Immigration Detention Centres were handed over to the Prisons Department in 2004 because there were lots of problems and complaints about the condition and the state of not just the Centres itself but also the treatment of its inmates - yes, the government did a WISE thing and handed over the detention centers to the professionals - the PRISONS DEPARTMENT - who did do a much better job.

Now, we wonder why these Detention Centers are being "handed back to the Immigration Department..." who obviously do not have the requisite manpower so much so the RELA (volunteer corp) is going to be used....

BEWARE....BEWARE...

Wednesday January 16, 2008 (Star)

Handover of depots for illegal

KAJANG: Immigration depots holding illegal immigrants will be better managed since its administration has been taken over by the Immigration Department.

Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad said Rela personnel would oversee the security aspect of the depots instead of prison officers.

For the time being, 1,840 Rela officers are being placed at 13 immigration depots nationwide while another 200 officers are on standby.

“It is a temporary measure until the allocation of 1,100 posts that had been approved by the Public Services Department are filled,” he told reporters after witnessing the handing over of the administration of the depots to the Immigration Department at the Semenyih Immigration depot near here yesterday.

He said the Government spent RM3 on each meal for every detainee in the depot while RM13mil was spent for deportation purposes last year. The depots are now holding about 10,000 detainees.

New management: Johor State Immigration officers bidding farewell to Prison Department staff members at the Pekan Nanas detention centre.

The depot is the transition point for illegal immigrants waiting to be deported after being convicted for immigration offences.

“All the depots are now having trials conducted in courts within the premises,” he said, adding that 11,175 court cases had been completed for last year.

He said the department was also making efforts to expedite deportation of the illegals.

Each detainee would not be held in the depot for more than three months, he added.

In Pontian, Johor Immigration director Mohd Nasri Ishak said the capacity of the Pekan Nenas detention centre for illegal immigrants would be increased by almost three times.

He said the centre could now accommodate about 700 prisoners.

The centre’s commandant from the Prison Department, Faisal Mohamed Noor, said large numbers of detainees were recorded just before every festive season.

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Tuesday January 15, 2008 (Star)
MYT 6:56:45 PM

Pekan Nenas detention centre to increase capacity

By GLADYS TAY

PONTIAN: The capacity at the Pekan Nenas detention centre for illegal immigrants would be increased to accommodate 2,000 detainees.

State Immigration director Mohd Nasri Ishak said the centre, which was handed back to the State Immigration Department by the Prison Department, can currently accommodate about 700 prisoners.

"We will rebuild some of the blocks destroyed in the fire we had a while back.

"The safety within the premise would also be upgraded gradually," he told reporters Tuesday after the handing over ceremony held at the centre here.

Mohd Nasri added that the centre, which was the first of 11 centres in the country that would be handed back to the Immigration Department, currently has 507 detainees from 14 countries.

"A total of 126 Rela members will assist us in monitoring the safety of the place," he said, adding that 84 staff members would be running the centre.

The management of this centre was handed over to the Prison Department in July 2004.

The centre's commandant from the Prison Department Faisal Mohamed Noor said 115 department staff would be transferred to other prisons in Peninsular Malaysia after the handing over.

"The department spent some RM1.25mil on upgrading the centre after taking over management in 2004," he said.

Faisal added that the name and function of the centre would be maintained after the handover.