Tuesday April 1, 2008
Vietnamese ‘held without cause’
By ISTA KYRA SHARMUGAM
KUALA LUMPUR: Immigration officers detained a trader’s Vietnamese wife and her visiting cousin although they had valid legal documents to prove their stay in the country.
Ng Lai Lian, 55, was at Pasar Pudu manning his apparel stall when Immigration officers arrived in a truck.
Ng’s wife and her cousin, who was visiting for a month, were at the stall with him.
“I like to have my wife around, as I am very attached to her,” said Ng who married Nguyen Thi Phuong, 21, here in December last year.
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Missing his wife: Ng holding up pictures of his wife and her cousin as Chong (right) discusses a point with witness Yong Chee Miang in Kuala Lumpur. |
Ng said this at a press conference after seeking help from MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Michael Chong.
He said two plainclothes officers approached them to check Nguyen and her cousin’s papers. Ng produced the valid documents and the officers left.
Half an hour later, five officers, also in plainclothes, came to the stall.
“They ignored me when I told them that two officers had earlier checked their passes and were satisfied,” said Ng.
“They told me to go to the immigration office in Putrajaya if I had any complaints,” said Ng.
When he went to the immigration office in Putrajaya it was closed, as it was a Saturday.
He went back yesterday and was referred to the immigration office in Semenyih as his wife was being detained at the Semenyih detention camp.
At the camp, he saw his wife for 10 minutes. His next attempt to see her was denied as he could not produce approval letters from the immigration department in Putrajaya.
Chong said the high-handed manner in which the officers conducted themselves was a shame to the country’s image.
He urged Immigration Department enforcement director Datuk Ishak Mohamed to investigate the matter urgently.
When contacted, Ishak said he would conduct a thorough investigation.
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