LETTER | Just a few days ago, a young domestic worker from Indonesia went to the Immigration Department to obtain a Special Pass and Check-Out Memo so that she could go back home.

She was required to pay a penalty of RM2,000 “for overstaying” her social visit pass, which had been issued in November 2019 and had expired a month later.

The facts of the case are as follows:

The domestic worker is a young mother, with little schooling, from a remote village in Indonesia. She was persuaded by an agent to come to Malaysia with the promise of a job with a “high salary”, and a legal work permit.

On arrival in Malaysia, her passport was stamped with a Social Visit pass, valid for 30 days, at the immigration counter. The local Malaysian agent then sent her to the home of her employer. Her passport was taken away by the employer/agent in order to process her work permit within 30 days of her arrival.

By January 2020, there was still no sign of her passport or work permit. During this period she was regularly abused verbally, and sometimes physically, was not paid her wages, had no contact with her family and was a virtual prisoner in her employer’s house.

Finally, she managed to escape, with the help of a member of the public who took her to an NGO to seek assistance.

Being almost illiterate and traumatised, she was not able to provide the name and address of her employer, her agent or even the contact details of her family in her remote village in Indonesia.

However, the NGO, with the help of its network and painstaking inquiry succeeded in locating her family in Indonesia, the agent in Malaysia and her employer.

Unfortunately just before travel arrangements could be finalised for her to return home, Covid 19 struck and she could not leave the country.

When flights to Indonesia began to be resumed, she went to the Immigration Department in early August 2020 to get the Check Out Memo. However, she had to pay a penalty of RM2,000 for overstaying for more than six months. This is an injustice.

In the first place, she did not choose to overstay; she was a victim of the agent and the employer, who have both got off scot-free.

Secondly, even if she is required to pay the penalty, it is grossly unfair to include the period from March to August 2020, when she was not allowed to leave the country, in computing the penalty payable. At the most, the penalty should be for three months (December 2019 to February 2020), for which she was told the penalty would have been RM1,000.

Now, as if to add insult to injury, we are informed by the immigration authorities that “those who overstayed for a year will pay a compound of RM1,000” (as reported in The Star on Aug 6, under the heading “Major Blitz to verify UNHCR cards”). So, why was she required to pay a compound of RM2,000?

The immigration authorities should be seen to be reasonable and just in their decisions and actions and, at the same time, ensure that what is said in public is reflected in the practices at the immigration counters.

JOSEPH PAUL is a member of Tenaganita, a human rights organisation and is passionately critical of abuses of power, injustice and plain folly by those in authority.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.