KUCHING: Witnessing and documenting the experiences of the Malaysian detainees in a Cambodian prison was an eye-opening experience for 27-year-old journalist Natasha Jee.
Natasha personally heard the phone call received by Welfare, Community, Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Datuk Hajah Fatimah Abdullah from Cambodian Senior Minister in Charge of Special Missions Datuk Othsman Hassan, announcing the release of all the detainees.
She was in the official Sarawak government delegation which returned safely to Kuching from Cambodia on a charted flight yesterday.
The New Sarawak Tribune had sent Natasha to tag along with Julau MP Larry Sng when he visited the Malaysian detainees in Cambodia on February 12.
After Larry’s departure on Feb 13, she remained in Cambodia to join the official Sarawak delegation which was arrived that day.
“It was sad to find out about the plight of our people there living in terrible conditions before being rescued by the Cambodian authorities,” said Natasha.
“Although they were fed properly, their living quarters were like jails and worse than the conditions in the actual jail complex they were put in subsequently,” she explained.
“They were not allowed to use their handphones and not allowed to leave the houses they were kept in with CCTVs installed at every corner of the houses to monitor their every movement.”
At yesterday’s press conference conducted by Fatimah, it was disclosed that the living conditions of the workers prior to their detention by the authorities were abysmal.
Natasha confirmed the news by saying, “We visited their lodgings roughly three kilometers from Poipet City and found they were not allowed even sunlight with all windows shut and barricaded with barbed wires and only one door (locked from the outside) to get in or out of the detached buildings.”
She continued: “In jail, some of them contracted scabies while others developed boils from being cramped with up to 35 people in the cells. They were packed like sardines.
“I know of three prisoners who were beaten up in prison by the other inmates.”
Natasha added that the trip was actually a very sad and worrisome one with the delegation facing many obstacles stemming from a barrage of conflicting information.
“It was also very sad to see the detainees in the dire situation they were in and we could see from their facial expressions they were clearly depressed and missing home dearly.”
The delegation, she added, had to travel literally at a moment’s notice and often had to forgo their meals due to the fluid situation they were facing.
“I must say that our leaders were very professional and they used all their knowledge and connections to solve issue after issue that they were faced with and I could see that they were deprived of sleep in the process,” said Natasha.
She hopes that Malaysian youths will take cognisance from this episode and be very careful in the future and always truthful to their parents and family members.
Natasha said she found out that many of the detainees did not tell their families where they were actually heading to. Instead, they just said that they were going to Kuala Lumpur.
She said the youths were attracted by the high pay promised to them. She feels that more enquiries should be made before job seekers take up overseas job offers in the future.
She said one detainee who had no parents left went to Cambodia in the hope of earning a good living to provide for the other family members back home here in Sarawak.
During the trip, Natasha said she constantly worried about her personal safety but felt well protected and taken cared of after the arrival of Fatimah and her delegation.
She pointed out that the special officer to Fatimah had taken good care of everybody in the delegation, making sure that they were all well fed and hydrated.
Natasha was happy that after a challenging and tiring experience, the delegation had returned with all the detainees who can finally be reunited with their families.
She thanked the state government for chartering a plane for all of them to return to Sarawak together.
