The Immigration Department has stressed that foreign parties do not have the right to interfere in matters that touch on Malaysia's sovereignty and law.
This includes in arrests and detention of undocumented migrants, said Immigration director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud in reference to the latest raid on a settlement at Nilai Spring, Negeri Sembilan, last week.
He was referring to a Malaysiakini report which cited Jakarta-based NGO Migrant Care's claim that the raided settlement was not an "illegal colony" as it was built on private land linked to employers who hired the initial group of Indonesian workers for sand mining activities in the area some nine years ago.
Migrant Care also disputed Malaysian officials’ accounts which claimed that the detainees had planned on staying permanently in Malaysia, stating instead they had obtained temporary travel documents issued by the Indonesian mission here.
The documents are known as "Sijil Perjalanan Laksana Paspor" that are issued in lieu of missing passports for a one-way trip to Indonesia - similar to documents issued by embassies throughout the world when dealing with lost passports.
In a statement, Khairul today said those detained were, without doubt, foreigners who are in Malaysia without permission and hence warranted enforcement.
In total there were 67 people - including the elderly and children - arrested during the Feb 1 raid.
Previously, Indonesia's National Commission on Human Rights condemned the raid because children as young as two months old were placed in detention.
Suhakam had urged authorities to implement an alternative to the detention programme to ensure that the detainees’ children are safe.
The settlers had claimed that they were victims of unpaid wages. They also set up a school in the settlement to prepare their children for an eventual return to Indonesia.
Following their detention, the settlement was destroyed and their belongings were lost. - Mkini
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