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| Tran Thi Thoai Trinh, her husband Yeoh Wei Chong and son Jasper |
Review policies, govt told after 11-day remand of Vietnamese mum
FMT
25/3/2021
PETALING JAYA: The detention of a Vietnamese woman to verify her documents after she failed to comply with a Covid-19 SOP has prompted the Foreign Spouses Support Group (FSSG) to accuse government officials of making arbitrary interpretations of policies.
It is calling for a review of policies on the treatment of foreign family members of Malaysians.
The 25-year-old Vietnamese, Tran Thi Thoai Trin, is married to a Malaysian and has a son. She was detained for 11 days to enable authorities to verify her documents after she failed to use the MySejahtera app to check in at a restaurant.
The offence is compoundable, but Tran was held at a police lock-up in Banting although she holds a multiple entry visa that allows her to remain in Malaysia until next January.
She was released on Tuesday after admitting guilt at the Klang magistrates’ court and paying a fine of RM350.
In a joint statement with Family Frontiers, a group which advocates gender-equal citizenship rights and the rights of bi-national and transnational families in Malaysia, FSSG said it was “deeply saddened by the painful situation” and wanted to see the end of such “arbitrary” detentions.
The statement, signed by FSSG co-founder Bina Ramanand and Family Frontiers programme manager Melinda Anne Sharlini, described foreigners married to Malaysians as people who “usually contribute positively to the Malaysian economy and society at large”.
“There should be greater clarity and transparency of the bureaucratic processes so as not to have arbitrary interpretations of policies by officers,” it said.
“Unfortunately, we cannot say that this is an isolated case. We need to bear in mind that these spouses are immediate family members of Malaysians and they are being detained, put under remand, issued Not To Land notices and sent back on a return flight upon landing.
“The bureaucratic process to obtain Malaysian legal status is also chasing away professional spouses, who bring great value to the country with their skills. The country can collect taxes too and enjoy their increased spending in the country.”
Tran’s lawyer, V Vemal Arasan, said she was arrested on March 13 after failing to record her particulars before entering a restaurant. Under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Regulations, failure to record one’s particulars before entering a premise is punishable with a fine of up to RM1,000 or six months’ jail.
Arasan said Tran’s husband was prepared to pay the compound fine and provided the police with the original documents required to free his wife on March 13 but the police allegedly “presumed they were fake” and wanted to verify them.
A magistrate gave Klang Utara police a 14-day remand order to hold Tran under the Immigration Act to verify her documents, a decision Vemal said was unnecessary as this could be done “within hours”.
Bina and Sharlini said Tran could have instead been asked to report to a police station or an immigration office with her documents within three days.
“ We need policies that are family friendly,” they said in their statement.
“Yes, there are sham marriages, but Malaysia is not the only country with sham marriages, and that is no cause to treat everyone like they are in a sham marriage.
“Other countries have systems to identify sham marriages. The same should be used here to avoid disproportionate and negative impact on women and children.”
Source: FMT
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