Dozens of stranded tourists held in Covid-19-ridden immigration depot since May

Dozens of tourists and business travellers from India are languishing under immigration detention after their 30-day multiple-entry visas lapsed during the movement control order (MCO) period, family members said.

An estimated 60 travellers were stranded in Malaysia when their flights were cancelled and detained in raids after their tourist visas lapsed, Delhi-based NGO Pravasi Legal Cell said.

Family members in India told Malaysiakini their relatives were picked up during raids at Masjid India in May, and have spent more than a month in the Bukit Jalil Immigration Depot - a Covid-19 hotspot with more than 600 cases.

News that an Indian man had died in Bukit Jalil depot on June 12 sent family members scrambling for information. One of them was a Hyderabadi woman, whose detained father matched the description announced by the Health Ministry.

“When we read the news (of the death), our peace was gone completely as the details of the dead matched my father,” she said.

“My father has a heart condition and has been taking multiple medications every day for the past 10 years. We fear that he has no access to these medications,” a family member said, on condition of anonymity.

It was only the day after, did she learnt from the Indian High Commission that her father was still alive. Her brother, who was travelling with her father, is also in immigration detention.

“We are afraid for their safety in the detention centre, so much so that we are even too scared to engage legal assistance.”

The family of the man who had actually died told Malaysiakini they learnt of his death through the news. They received an official confirmation several days after.

Zeawdeen Kadar Masan entered on a social visit pass but was stranded until his visa expired as flights to India were cancelled. He was detained in the Bukit Jalil depot for more than a month.

Frantic phone calls

Some of the family members said they received frantic telephone calls on the day of the raids, from loved ones who told them they were picked up for “overstaying”. Others learnt of the detentions through family friends in Malaysia.

Documents sighted by Malaysiakini showed the travellers arrived in Malaysia days before the movement control order was imposed on March 18. All held return tickets, but the flights had been suspended.

India barred all international flights from landing, starting March 23, but airlines, including Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia, suspended Malaysia-India flights the week before.

“I can understand the Malaysian authorities detaining undocumented migrants, but these people are tourists who had valid visas. They should not be in detention,” Pravasi Legal Cell Malaysia representative Zahir Hussain A said.

Zahir is acting on behalf of three detainees whose families sought help.

The detention contravenes the National Security Council’s announcement that all stranded tourists will not face immigration action during the MCO.

The Immigration Department had also issued a notice to allow all overstayed tourists to leave the country without legal repercussions.

A notice from the Immigration Department allowing amnesty for foreigners who have overstayed their visas but are leaving the country.

Immigration DG: They overstayed

Zahir lodged a report with the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) when his complaint to the Indian High Commission went unheeded. Suhakam told Malaysiakini it is following up with the Immigration Department and the Indian High Commission on the matter.

The Indian High Commission and the Malaysian home minister’s office did not respond to Malaysiakini’s request for information, but the Immigration Department denies that stranded tourists were detained.

“Those in detention are undocumented or overstayed. They entered Malaysia before January 2020,” an Immigration Department spokesperson said.

However, documents, including immigration checkpoint stamps and other visa documents, showed at least six travellers detained by the Immigration Department officers had arrived in Malaysia in March.

“My husband had a return flight ticket in hand. He said he tried showing them all the documents but the immigration people said he overstayed,” said one woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear her husband would be targeted in detention.

Circular from the Indian government barring flights from Malaysia.

A list compiled by Chennai grassroots organisations shows 22 names and passport numbers of Indian travellers held in the detention of the Immigration Department.

Adrian Pereira, executive director of human rights NGO North South Initiative, is assisting some of the families of those listed and has received confirmation from the Immigration Department that their loved ones are being held at the Bukit Jalil depot.

“When I asked (the depot officer) why they are detained there when they are tourists, I was told to follow up with the Immigration Department in Putrajaya,” he said.

“Immigration has to urgently release the names, nationalities and reasons for the detention of all the MCO detainees.”

Families in limbo

Some of the travellers detained are sole breadwinners in their families, leaving their families in limbo for three months since they arrived in Kuala Lumpur.

One youth, the eldest son of four, said his family has been unable to pay rent since his father went to Kuala Lumpur and only has the roof over their heads by the landlord’s good grace.

His father, Mohamed Jan Rabi Sultan Alaudeen, 46, travelled to Kuala Lumpur on a business trip and was due to return via IndiGo Airlines on March 19. The airline cancelled its Kuala Lumpur-Chennai flights starting March 18.

Still hopeful to return, Mohamad Jan purchased tickets to fly home on AirAsia and Batik Air on April 2 and April 16, but the ban on international flights into India was extended until June 30.

Flight tickets home purchased by Mohamad Jan - but all these flights were cancelled.

All who spoke to Malaysiakini said they have registered their loved ones with the High Commission in the hope that they can be prioritised in India’s ongoing mission to bring home its citizens stranded worldwide.

One family was told by Indian High Commission officers that the office has contacted the Malaysian Immigration Department on this issue and is waiting for the department’s response.

SK Tajudeen, whose friend Kuppu Balakrishnan is believed to be detained at the Bukit Jalil depot, said family members and friends are willing to bear the cost of repatriation and quarantine.

“His wife is illiterate and living in the village. She keeps calling me and crying about her husband every day. Please help us bring him back,” Tajudeen said. - Mkini