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Where hundreds have died in custody: Malaysia ramps up enforcement against undocumented migrants
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Malaysia, facing a surge of immigrants entering the country illegally, declared 2025 to be “the year of enforcement” and ramped up arrests.
PHOTO: AMRITA CHANDRADAS/NYTIMES
Zunaira Saieed and Richard C. Paddock
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KUALA LUMPUR – Mr Ben Za Min was working as a junior government clerk in Myanmar when the military seized power nearly five years ago, setting off a chain of events that would lead to his death 2,092km from home.
He quit his job in a small town in western Chin state and joined nationwide protests. When the junta cracked down and violence erupted throughout the country, he fled, first to India and then, in 2023, to Malaysia, where he worked illegally in construction, making a modest living.
