/ba.ca/ with New Naratif: Lost Childhood – Children in Malaysia’s Immigration Detention Centres

According to figures from the Home Ministry of Malaysia, there are 1,030 children currently held across 20 immigration detention centres in Malaysia. 43% of them are girls and a third of them reported to be lone sojourners, unaccompanied or separated minors without their guardians.

Undocumented children in Malaysia are seen as violators of Malaysia’s immigration laws. They are constantly at risk of being arrested, indefinite detention, and life-threatening deportation. New Naratif published a two-part explainer by Joshua Low:

• “Don’t Come Back, Soldiers Are Here”: Children in Malaysia’s Immigration Detention Centres 
• “The Political Decision is to Release Them”: The 12-Year Struggle to End Child Immigration Detention in Malaysia 

With the release of these explainers, we’ll be delving into the critical issue of child immigration detention centres in Malaysia for this month’s /ba.ca/ with New Naratif. We will discuss the myriad harm child detention inflicts on children, their families and communities, as well as its costs to taxpayers.

The reading group will kick off with a presentation by Joshua Low, the author of the explainers. He will provide a comprehensive overview of the migratory realities of children in immigration detention and the legal reasons for their detention. Following the presentation, participants will engage in a group discussion. The explainers will serve as a starting point for the discussion and participants are encouraged to share their perspectives and ask questions.

By participating in this session, you will have the opportunity to broaden your understanding of the realities faced by children in immigration detention centres and together, we can identify avenues for change.

Guest Speaker:

Joshua Low is New Naratif’s Forced Migration Researcher. Intrigued by questions of home, belonging, and citizenship, he completed two master’s degrees in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies and in Social Anthropology as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. He currently works on human displacement issues in the context of Latin America and Southeast Asia.

Recommended Readings:  

• “Don’t Come Back, Soldiers Are Here”: Children in Malaysia’s Immigration Detention Centres by Joshua Low
• “The Political Decision is to Release Them”: The 12-Year Struggle to End Child Immigration Detention in Malaysia by Joshua Low

Supplementary Readings:

• Documenting the Undocumented: The Struggle for a Legal Identity by Aime Marisa
• Impacts of Child Immigration Detention: Stories of Child Refugees in Detention – Ahmed & Angel (2020) by IDC
• Impact of Prolonged Immigration Detention on Rohingya Families and Communities in Malaysia (2023) by IDC and Danish Refugee Council
• Captured Childhood (2012) by IDC
• Seperti di Neraka: Kondisi Pusat Tahanan Imigrasi di Sabah, Malaysia (2022) by Koalisi Buruh Migran Berdaulat

/ba∙ca/ with New Naratif is a reading group series that invites members to come together to discuss selected stories published by New Naratif.

For this reading, there is a minimum donation of US$5, for which you’ll receive a month’s New Naratif membership. Existing members can attend this event for free! Join New Naratif as a member today.