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Six Myanmar Rohingya refugees, including two children, were killed after being hit by automobiles on a Malaysian highway as hundreds fled an immigration detention centre where a disturbance erupted early Wednesday, according to officials.
The immigration service said in a statement that 582 Rohingya escaped from the Sungai Bakap temporary immigration detention camp in northern Penang state by breaking down doors and barrier grills, but 362 have since been re-arrested.
Malaysia has long been a popular destination for ethnic Rohingya fleeing persecution in Myanmar or refugee camps in Bangladesh.
However, since 2020, thousands of people have been hauled up and detained in overcrowded detention centres as part of Malaysian authorities’ efforts to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
Police said they were still probing the cause of Wednesday’s riot, while authorities sought for the remaining detainees who had escaped.
Two men, two women, a child, and a girl were murdered after being hit by vehicles while attempting to cross a highway around 8 kilometres (5 miles) away from the detention centre, Kedah state police chief Wan Hassan Wan Ahmad told reporters during a live-streamed press conference.
Prior to the violence, the camp housed 664 Rohingya refugees, including 137 children.
