Families of detained Indian citizens seek help to secure release
Family members of Indian citizens in Malaysian immigration detention have reached out to their local governments and elected representatives as part of efforts to secure the release of their loved ones.
Malaysiakini sighted three correspondence with related requests made for assistance to connect with the Indian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.
Family members of Indian citizens in Malaysian immigration detention have reached out to their local governments and elected representatives as part of efforts to secure the release of their loved ones.
Malaysiakini sighted three correspondence with related requests made for assistance to connect with the Indian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.
One of the letters highlighted that at least 200 people were nabbed by immigration during its May 1 raid along Masjid India in Kuala Lumpur, of which 25 were said to be from Sivaganga district, in India's Tamil Nadu state.
The letter to a government officer in Sivaganga requested for necessary actions be taken to repatriate the Indian citizens trapped here.
Subsequently, the government officer forwarded the request in a July 1 letter to a higher ranking director in charge of rehabilitation and welfare of non-resident Tamils, specifically highlighting the 25 people believed to be from Sivaganga.
Coincidentally, on July 1, the High Commission of India tweeted that Deputy High Commissioner Archana Nair had met with immigration officials in Putrajaya to discuss the "early repatriation" of Indian detainees in Malaysian immigration depots.
Malaysiakini also sighted a separate letter dated June 17 from Lok Sabha MP Dhanush M Kumar to India's External Affairs Minister Subramaniam Jaishankar, requesting assistance to release one of his constituents stranded here.
"Abdul Majith Kanava Maideen belongs to my Tenkasi Parliament constituency, (is) stranded in Malaysia and eagerly waiting to come back.
"He has submitted all the necessary details to the embassy of India," Danush wrote.
"Hence, in this regard, I request your good self to give necessary instruction to the Indian embassy in Malaysia and arrange the travel to bring him back at the earliest," he added.
North-South Initiative director Adrian Pereira (above) told Malaysiakini he had forwarded the letters and related information to the Bar Council for further action.
"We need to ensure that tourists will be safe here in the future and will not be subjected to arbitrary detention," said Pereira who has been assisting some of the family members from India.
When contacted, Bar Council Migrants, Refugees and Immigration Affairs Committee co-chairperson M Ramachelvam confirmed receiving the documents.
"We are looking at it. There is a team of lawyers looking at the letters," he said, adding that no further comments can be made before more facts have been established.
The latest number of Indian citizens in immigration detention to date remained unclear.
Malaysiakini has contacted Immigration director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud for a response.
On June 24, it was reported that the High Commission of India in Kuala Lumpur was already in negotiations with the Immigration Department to repatriate Indian nationals held in detention.
The plight of Indian citizens caught in the immigration dragnet here made headlines following news that one of its citizen, Zeawdeen Kadar Masdan, 67, died in detention on June 12.
He was believed to be among dozens of tourists and business travellers from India languishing under immigration detention after their 30-day multiple-entry visas lapsed during the movement control order (MCO) period.
The Immigration Department so far insisted that all those held were either undocumented or had overstayed, despite documentary evidence including immigration checkpoint stamps and other visa documents, which showed at least six of the travellers had arrived in the country in March.
