‘Wanted’ husband deported, wife of Pakistani journalist told

 

Syed Fawad Ali Shah has been missing since August and his wife, Syeda, is in Kuala Lumpur looking for him.

PETALING JAYA: A Pakistani journalist living in exile here for the past 11 years was deported as he was “wanted” for crimes in his home country.

This is what Syeda, the wife of Syed Fawad Ali Shah, claims the Malaysian immigration authorities told her.

Syeda said she was given this “shocking” news when she met immigration officials in Putrajaya on Tuesday.

Fawad, 41, who holds a UNHCR refugee card, had sought asylum from the agency for alleged persecution in Pakistan over his articles in several English dailies there related to government corruption.

He had been missing since August, and Syeda is in Kuala Lumpur looking for him. A missing persons’ report has been lodged.

“They told me Pakistan wanted him back home and the Pakistan High Commission here made the documentation to assist in his deportation,” Syeda told FMT on her meeting with Malaysian immigration authorities. “I was also told not to waste time here and to go back home.”

When she went to the high commission in Kuala Lumpur, Syeda was told it had no information about her husband and that it could not handle such cases as her husband was a refugee.

“I really don’t know what to do now. Can somebody help me and tell me what crimes my husband committed for him to be sent home?” she said.

FMT has contacted the police, immigration and the Pakistani High Commission for comment.

Fawad came to Malaysia in 2011 through Thailand and was later granted refugee status by UNHCR. His troubles had begun in 2008 when he decided to investigate cases of missing persons.

His work eventually led him to believe the authorities were involved in the disappearance of these people, many of whom were accused of everything from spying for the Americans and Indians to working for the Taliban.

While he worked on other articles, he continued to pursue cases of missing persons. In 2010, he was detained for 18 days and interviewed by officers, said to be Pakistani intelligence officials.

Fawad was eventually released with a warning: stop writing about missing persons, and give up journalism. - FMT