Government officials plotted to ensnare and detain recently deported Indonesian permanent resident Abdul Mutalib Taib, claimed his wife Romita Hasibuan.

The so-called 'interview' on March 23 for which they were called after applying for their 12-year old son's identity card a week earlier was merely a ploy to lure Abdul Mutalib into their hands, added the Indonesian housewife.

"When we arrived at the National Registration Department (NRD) office in Sepang, Abdul Mutalib was called into the interview room by the officer. Twenty minutes later, my son and I were asked inside. We were both shocked to see my husband handcuffed while sitting on a chair," she said in a recent interview in Kuala Lumpur.

"The two officers present just told us, 'Your husband is not wanted anymore in Malaysia. He will be sent back to Indonesia, and your children will lose their Malaysian citizenship. These are orders from higher authorities," she added.

"They also asked for the birth certificates of my other three children. The interview was planned just to ensnare my husband and to get hold of my son's birth certificate."

Relating the sequence of events on the day of her husband's arrest and the weeks following, Romita expressed frustration at the fate imposed on her family as if by powers beyond her control or influence.

Repeat nightmare

In fact, Romita said her present predicament seems like a re-play of the nightmare she experienced when Abdul Mutalib was detained under the ISA from mid-1995 to early 1998.

She maintained that the reasons for her husband's detention remain unknown to her and her husband.

"I was in total shock when he was arrested and detained then. I did not know how it could happen to my family and myself. I did not know anything as there were no letters or notices informing us of anything," she said.

"When I used to visit Abdul Mutalib in prison, he would look at me with the same look of pain and bewilderment at being so helpless. He did not know why he was detained. If he was guilty of anything, he would have been brought to court. But he wasn't.

"He merely kept telling me to be patient and to take care of the children. When he was released in early 1998, the children were happy that we were together again., that their father was with them. We felt we could embark on a new beginning.

"Now, that nightmare is repeating. It's happening all over again to my family," she said.

The authorities claimed that Abdul Mutalib's PR was revoked in 1996, subsequent to which the citizenship of two of his children as well as Romita's spousal visa have since become uncertain.

The family has maintained that neither Abdul Mutalib, a legal PR in Malaysia since the 1980s, nor his family members or associates have seen the revocation notice of his PR nor the grounds for the revocation.

After a month's detention at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport immigration depot following his arrest at the NRD, Abdul Mutalib was shown several orders, declarations and notices pertaining to being an 'unwanted immigrant' and the revocation of his entry permit.

The documents furnished clearly included the provision, however, that Abdul Mutalib was entitled to appeal within seven days of being shown the notice.

'Country of my children'

Despite having filed three appeals to the Home Minister and immigration department within the stipulated time, however, Romita learnt last Sunday when she called her relatives in Indonesia that her husband had already been deported two days earlier and was staying with them.

Though the family is seeking to exhaust all avenues of appeal before initiating legal action against those concerned, Romita, though thankful for the support given by family and friends, however felt overwhelmed by the tremendous odds stacked against her.

"I will face each day as it comes. It is family, friends and relatives who are maintaining us right now. But it is difficult for me when my children ask where their father is and want to be united with him," said Romita in a faltering voice.

"We're traumatised. My children are traumatised and I am traumatised by this.

"My children were doing well in school, but it is difficult for them now. Their schoolmates are enquiring, 'Why is your father in the newspapers? Where is he?".

Despite the many difficulties, Romita however remains adamant that the family and their future belong in Malaysia.

"This has always been the country of my children. They feel this is their country, they've grown up here. We all want to remain in Malaysia."