The Higher Education Ministry has cautioned college administrators that it does not condone the practice of withholding the passports of foreign students until they have fully paid their fees.

Enforcement and inspectorate division director Abdul Karim Jaafar conceded, however, that this is a “normal mechanism in private colleges”.

"We do not encourage this. Private colleges do this on their own accord. Students can lodge a complaint with us if they are unhappy," he said when contacted today.

Abdul Karim said colleges can only hold students' passports if they are helping students to apply for student passes at the Immigration Department.

"Currently, student passes are stamped into the passports although initial stages of the application are done online. After the passes are issued, colleges must return the passports to the students,” he explained.

Last week, Malaysiakini reported that about 60 international students enrolled with business college Nirwana Academy have been left in the lurch because the college has lost their passports and other relevant documents.

These documents had been submitted to the college for registration purposes more than a year ago.

The students are now claiming that the college has failed to take good care of their documents and has made it worse by not taking steps to replace the missing documents.

‘College should help students’

Urging the students to get in touch with him to resolve the matter, Abdul Karim said they may be deemed to be committing an offence for residing here without legal documents.

"We will assist those stuck in this predicament to get their passports and obtain student passes," he assured the students.

He also said the Algerian Embassy had written to the Foreign Affairs Ministry in April about the missing passports and to express concern for the students’ safety.

"It is now up to the college to assist students in applying for new passports at the respective embassies," Abdul Karim said.

When contacted, Algerian Embassy head of business section Bousri Khaled said no action has been taken although he had informed the relevant authorities about the situation.

"We did not receive a single word from anyone. The students have lost everything - passport, studies, time," he said.