Officers from the auxiliary police volunteer unit (Rela) have the power to enter private property such as homes and stop and search members of the public without a warrant during the crackdown on illegal migrants which began today.

However, the public have the right to demand to see the 'authority cards' of these Rela officers before letting them in to conduct any other search and arrest operations.

Contacted today, a police spokesperson overseeing the Rela operations and heading the hotline unit said that out of the 300,000 Rela members deployed during the operations codenamed Ops Tegas, only 300-odd were officers with power.

"These officers have the power to stop and search individuals and groups as well as stop and inspect both public and private vehicles," said the senior police officer who declined to be named.

He revealed that Rela members could only execute their duties - such as entering homes - in the presence of any of the officers. The officers are namely Rela directors and assistants in the states as well as district officers and assistants.

Curb abuse

The police spokesperson said that Rela personnel must produce their authority cards as "we don't want to encourage them to develop a power rush as this could lead to power abuse."

The authority card, he revealed, is a temporary card issued by the police and Rela authorities pending the clearance of the government's officially approved card.

It allows for Rela officers to arrest suspected illegal migrants but does not accord them investigation powers.

"Once a suspected illegal is arrested, a police report is made and then the matter is referred to the Immigration (Department)," said the spokesperson.

On another matter, the police officer clarified that Rela members, like police personnel, do not have a licence to shoot at will but can fire their weapons in the face of danger and threats.

However, this has not gone down well with members of civil society and rights groups.

Amnesty International Malaysia acting-director Josef Roy Benedict was concerned that 'untrained' individuals with firearms would pose a hazard to public safety.

"There is a fear that the use of firearms by Rela officers may lead to further abuses based on past incidents where they had been overzealous, poorly trained and not held accountable," he said in a statement.

Not criminals

Similarly, Aegile Fernandez - coordinator at Tenaganita (migrant labour rights group) - strongly questioned the government's move to accord enforcement powers, and approve firearms use, to ordinary members of the public.

"Laws that exist or are enacted, are only relevant to police or immigration officers to address crime. Why and how has the state given ordinary people - like you and me - authority to arrest them (undocumented migrants)?

"They are not criminals, how can they be hunted down with guns and rifles? Wouldn't that be viewed as an abuse of power and create more space for large abuses?," Aegile asked when contacted.

The 500,000-odd personnel deployed in the nationwide crackdown are made up of over 300,000 Rela members, 680 immigration officers and the balance are members from the Rukun Tetangga (resident watchdog).

They are geared to nab some 400,000 undocumented foreigners in the country.