PONTIAN: More than half of the 105 Sri Lankan refugees at the Pekan Nanas detention centre near here had their prayers answered when they were finally released.
Sixty-six of them, including 17 women and children, left the centre in two buses at about 12.30pm yesterday.
Johor Immigration deputy director Amran Ahmad said the 66 were handed over to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representatives.
“We are delighted that some of them have been released and the process was fast,” he said.
“We are now in the process of releasing another 21 while the rest will be charged with immigration offences,” he said, adding that one had been handed over to his employer recently.
Amran rubbished claims that some of the Sri Lankans had gone on a hunger strike, saying that a few of them had to be sent to hospital when they came down with flu and fever.
He called on non-governmental organisations to stop spreading rumours about the detainees.
UNHCR external relations officer Yante Ismail thanked the Immigration Department for the release of the detainees.
“We will continue to call for the release of the rest of the refugees and asylum seekers,” she said.
Suhakam commissioner Datuk N. Siva Subramaniam also hoped that the release of the remaining detainees would be soon.
He called on the authorities to take stern action against those who exploited the refugees with promises of lucrative jobs but later left them in a lurch.
Persatuan Persahabatan Semparuthy co-ordinator E. Silvarajah said he was glad to hear of the release.
“The authorities have handled the situation well,” he said.
The Sri Lankans were placed in the centre after they were detained for not having proper documents at a hotel here last month.
They claimed they were duped by a syndicate that had promised them jobs in Malaysia.
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