Thai asylum seekers to be deported : Malaysia
Malaysia has warned any Thais who cross over to Kelantan state to seek political asylum will be arrested and deported.
Kelantan police chief Datuk Zulkifli Abdullah said police will arrest Thais and hand them over to the immigration department."We will not listen to any excuse, we will arrest them," he told Malaysia's state news agency, Bernama, recently. He was commenting after Bernama reported that a group of 20 Muslims, including children, aged between two and 55, from southern Thailand crossed the border to Kelantan to seek political asylum in Malaysia. "So far, there have been no report that they have crossed the border ... we are monitoring the situation. We have intensified security at the border," he said. In August, 131 of them crossed over to Kelantan following political instability in the restive Thai province. Meanwhile the Malaysian government has ordered its employees working at the Malaysian-Thai border to immediately cease the practice of crossing to Thailand for meal breaks. Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Mohd Johari Baharum, who issued the order, also instructed heads of department to take stern action against employees who defied the order. "They are on duty and are supposed to be in the country ... but we have staff, including uniformed employees, who crossed the border to Thailand without any documents just to eat and drink," he told reporters after a visit to the Malaysian-Thai border on Sunday. According to state-owned news agency, Bernama, he said the lax security at the entry-exit point resulted from the attitude of government employees there who became regular visitors to Thailand who gave special treatment to their acquaintances in Thailand. Mohd Johari, who is the Kubang Pasu Member of Parliament, said he would meet with the directors-general of the relevant enforcement departments and agencies at the border to discuss ways to step up enforcement at the entry-exit point. He said the government was considering introducing a special pass to Malaysians entering the duty-free complex area as many had abused the permission to enter the area without documents by going to Thailand. He said on Thai-registered commercial vehicles allowed to come up to two kilometres into Malaysia without any documents, he said he would look into putting a stop to the practice as it could cause problems, especially if accidents were to happen.
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