RELA Achieves International Notoriety Now!

A Malaysian blooper reported in the International Herald Tribune.

Malaysia's volunteer security corps defended Friday detaining an Indian film director after mistaking him for an illegal immigrant, but the tourism minister apologized for the incident.

Zaidon Asmuni, the director general of the volunteer force known by its Malay acronym RELA, said the man was detained during a routine check for illegal immigrants in Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown area Monday night because he was not carrying his passport.

RELA released Sanjiv Mishra, in Malaysia to shoot a documentary on leading Asian hotels for German television, after several hours when his colleagues brought his passport, Zaidon said.

On Thursday, Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor apologized for the incident, saying the wrongful detention had shocked him, a local daily reported Friday. "I am very sorry for what has happened," Adnan was quoted by the New Straits Times as saying. "They came here to shoot a documentary ... but it turned out to be a nightmare for them." He said such incidents should be prevented. Ministry officials could not immediately be reached to confirm his comments.

Indian Deputy High Commissioner N.K. Saxena said the High Commission received a complaint about the incident Monday night and referred the matter to the Foreign Ministry to investigate.

Zaidon denied any wrongdoing by his force, saying foreigners must carry valid identification at all times. "We normally do the checking like that," he said. "We don't arrest foreigners who carry a valid travel document. What for? We have our detention centers full." He said the volunteers took Mishra to a RELA office to avoid a commotion on the busy downtown street where he was stopped.

The New Straits Times reported the two RELA members who stopped him were not in uniform and carried no identification cards. Zaidon said he could not confirm this, but added volunteers sometimes wear plainclothes though they always carry cards identifying them as RELA members.

Wrongful detentions by RELA have occasionally occurred in the past, mostly involving Indians and Pakistanis. Zaidon said two Americans were stopped last year but the incident was resolved without any formal complaints.

Zaidon said RELA has detained some 16,700 illegal immigrants since January, calling it a "very good job." But he admitted there were a few "black sheep" in the force of a half-million personnel.

Activists estimate that Malaysia has at least 150,000 refugees and asylum seekers. There are 1.8 million legal foreign workers in Malaysia, Zaidon said. The New York-based Human Rights Watch recently accused RELA of becoming a vigilante force against migrant workers.

***** On the one hand our government especially the tourism department is going all out to invite foreigners to visit the country, while merrily singing, "Malaysia Truly Asia" albeit without really meaning it. On the other these misfits that form Rela are giving not only themselves but our nation a bad name as well. Apologies don't really make things better and once these unnecessary incidents are reported in the home country of the victims, over time we can expect less tourists and visitors from there. To be sure India is one helluva huge tourist market which Malaysia would be foolish to ignore or lose.

Earlier related post: Rela - Malaysia's Answer To The Gestapo.
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Another Visit Malaysia Year special!: Indian software professional detained in Malaysia for not carrying passport