Some 140 migrant workers including Nepalis have been arrested in the past few weeks in Malaysia. However, it has yet to be confirmed how many of those arrested were Nepali.

Those arrested are from Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Myanmar. They have been living and working in Malaysia without valid legal documents. The authorities arrested the migrant workers as part of an announced crackdown on illegal migrants.

According to Amnesty International, the detainees have been kept at overcrowded immigration detention centres. "Regardless of immigration status, nobody should be subjected to arbitrary arrest of appalling detention centres," said Michael Boecheneck, Director of Policy at Amnesty International in a press statement.

The detainees are subject to substantial fines, imprisonment and in some cases caning.Refugees, including from Myanmar, who hold cards issued by the local office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are among those caught up in the immigration sweeps.

According to Amnesty International report, there are cases of number of rampant abuses against the migrants during detention.

Published on: 11 April 2010 | The Kathmandu Post