Adopted father seeks release of Malaysian son from immigration depot

A pondok school founder has appealed to the authorities to release his adopted son from the Langkap Immigration detention centre after he was arrested for not having valid identification documents four years ago.

Mohamad Tarudi Bahari, 68, said R Tayalan @ Mohd Farid, 28, had a confirmation document from the National Registration Department (NRD) which stated he was a Malaysian citizen.

"Farid was detained in 2019 and I only found out about it when he contacted me from the detention centre in 2022.

“He was arrested and handed over to the immigration department because he could not produce an identity card,” he said at a press conference yesterday.

Tarudi said Farid was registered as a student at Pondok Al-Jaafar, Gua Tempurung using his birth certificate.

He was not issued an identity card due to incomplete information involving his mother’s identity card.

Tarudi said efforts were made to apply for a valid identity card, including tracking down Farid’s biological father, Ramachandran, who was serving a jail term at the time, and the details of the mother’s identification number.

“We went to the NRD in Putrajaya on June 14 with a statutory declaration of the mother’s identification number data to add to Farid’s birth certificate.

“The NRD system confirmed the details of Farid's birth at Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital, Klang but the addition of the data and the issuance of a new birth certificate will only be done by the end of September," he said.

He also said the copy of the birth certificate issued by the NRD confirmed that Farid was a Malaysian and could be released from the detention centre.

However, he was told by the immigration officials that Mohd Farid could only be released with the original birth certificate.

- Bernama