updated version

A former Chinese educationist who was deported from Sarawak last year for allegedly criticising the state government was "accidentally" allowed back into the state by the Miri airport's Immigration last evening.

Businessman Tan Seng Hin, 61, who arrived at the airport at 6pm with DAP MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok were received by his family.

He told reporters at the airport about his "elation" on being able to set foot in Sarawak again.

"We expected to be kicked out," he said.

However, his relief was short-lived as 10 minutes later he was asked by an Immigration officer to go back into the airport for a little 'talk'.

According to Kok, Tan told the officer that he had the right to enter the state as he was exercising his constitutional right to vote in this Thursday's state elections.

"The officer told him he was not supposed to enter Sarawak as there was an order issued from the top," she told malaysiakini .

Kok said that Tan refused to go with the Immigration officer and immediately left the airport with his family. He was, however, not stopped by the Immigration officer.

It is learnt that Sarawak Immigration is currently looking for Tan, who is now in hiding.

Right to vote

When contacted by telephone, Tan told malaysiakini that several police officers, including Miri OCPD Ambruse Chung, went to his house late last night and early today to look for him.

"When they could not find me at home, they went to the Hainan Clan Association," he said, who declined to reveal his whereabouts.

Tan was the association's secretary until his deportation early this year. The group is active in promoting the teaching of Chinese language in the state.

He is adamant in exercising his right to vote at the state elections on Thursday, adding that the police might take action against him on polling day.

"I insist on staying in Miri for at least three months since I have obtained the necessary entrance requirement from the immigration when I arrived yesterday," he said.

Tan also lamented that the dailies in Sarawak had failed to highlight his plight.

"I was interviewed by several of them yesterday, but not a single word was reported this morning," he said.

No reasons given

In January, Tan - originally from Melaka - was deported from Sarawak without any reason given.

Tan, who is a developer, his wife Lu Ya Lei from Perak, and their two children have been living in Sarawak for the past 23 years.

The Sarawak Immigration Department served a notice on Tan at his office on Dec 22 last year giving him two weeks to leave the state. No reason was given.

Tan was also told that he would not be permitted to re-enter Sarawak again.

In a written statement to Parliament in April, Deputy Home Affairs Minister Zainal Abidin Zin said that Tan was deported because he was a critic of the state government.

He added that Tan was found to be ungrateful to the Sarawak government who had given him the chance to live in the state for 20 years.

Tan had appealed to the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) to investigate the state government's "arbitrary" expulsion.

'Respect rights'

Meanwhile, Kok criticised the Sarawak Immigration for separating Tan from his family over the past six months.

"He was not even allowed to rejoin his family to celebrate the Chinese New Year," she lamented.

"In this case, the Sarawak Immigration is even more authoritarian, cruel and inhumane than the state government, which has deported him without a reason," she added.

DAP chairman Lim Kit Siang urged the Sarawak government to allow Tan to vote.

"They should respect human rights. Tan should be allowed to vote and to be with his family in Sarawak," he said in a statement.