Fatimah (second right) being briefed by an official during her visit. File Photo
SIEM REAP, Cambodia: The basic needs of the 40 Sarawakians currently detained at Banteay Meanchey provincial prison here are being well looked after.
Minister of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah said that she was satisfied with the treatment rendered to the detainees following a visit yesterday.
During the visit, she noted that some of the detainees were suffering from skin allergies while another detainee had to be hospitalised for his medical condition to be treated.
For the Muslim detainees, they are not being served pork while being detained at the prison and prayer mats are also provided for them to carry out their religious obligations.
However, Fatimah stated that official letters from the Malaysia Embassy in Cambodia were required to be written to the prison quarters for any requests related to the welfare of the detainees to be entertained.
“So, I would say the visit was not futile. The objective (of the visit) to check on the welfare (of the detainees) was achieved,” she said.
On Dec 11, 47 Malaysians, 40 of whom were Sarawakians, were detained at the Banteay Meachey provincial jail for allegedly being members of an online gambling syndicate.
A previous visit also revealed that 40 of the 47 detainees are from Sarawak – not 44 as previously indicated.
Another four are from Peninsular Malaysia while three are Sabahans.
Thirty-three of the Sarawakians are from Kuching, followed by six from Sibu and one from Sarikei.