throwawayprisoner29

Thanks for your kind words.

1. My head was spinning in different directions, I had never been arrested or even went to a police station before in my life. I have to say that was the scariest moment of my life.

2. The first thing I felt before I even saw the cell was the dreadful smell of BO, the cell itself was another case. There were no beds or mats or anything to sleep on. Just an elevated platform made of wood that covered half the room and a marble floor, both spaces were filled up with inmates.

3. No idea how long I was going to be there, which is the worst thing. No one was allowed any phone calls and no one tells you how your case is going. So I had no clue most of the time.

4. Worst thing I saw was this elderly Bangladeshi inmate who had severe stomach pain, he was rolling on the floor crying in pain. When we called the prison guard, he said " Let him die, the only way he leaves this cell is in a body bag" and just walked away after that leaving us all speechless.

I have to say it wasn't a thing, but an inmate. There was a 13 year old Burmese refugee that was locked up with us and was still locked up when I left. He had no one helping him on the outside, didn't speak any language, used to cry every single day and scream " mama, mama" to this day his cries and screams are stuck with me. I just still can't believe that they locked up a 13 year old.

It has given me mental strength and an patience. It has made me understand the importance of things that I took for granted in the past. This experience didn't make me hateful it made me more compassionate. The things we went through in that cell, we went through together as human beings regardless of where we were from. Nothing is stronger than the bonds we had. I have to say this whole experience gave me a whole different positive outlook on life.

The prison guards were the worst. I mean there were a couple of good ones here and there, but they were mostly corrupt. They would call inmates animals, slap us around for trivial reasons, punch us if we didn't listen to what they said. One guy was clearly bruised from top to bottom after he got a beating when he was arrested. Since there is no oversight or accountability, they have a carte blanche to act as they like.

The worst part though is the corruption, when inmates get processed they are asked to pay 100 RM (30 USD) or 50 RM(15 USD) depending on how much they have in their wallets, for a bar of soap, toothpaste and medicine if needed which costs like 5 RM(1.5 USD) the guards pocket the rest. God forbid you get sick, If you need medicine you are lucky if you get any.

When getting deported, the inmates have to pay for the flights. If the inmates don't have any money, They stay in camps and prisons indefinitely. Those who have money, have to go through immigration officers, which ask for a 500 RM ( 170 USD) commission for every single ticket. If you try to get your ticket from outside through a friend your process will be slowed down to teach other inmates a lesson.

It is an extremely corrupt system that takes advantage of poor immigrant workers, most of them loose all their savings to immigration officers.

Other inmates helped make sure he stayed alive. Some gave him portions of their food. Play games with him and stuff. We knew the poor kid was suffering so we made sure he was protected.