KUALA LUMPUR: Nearly 2,800 Malaysians are behind bars in various countries around the world, the majority of them for drug-related crime, the Dewan Rakyat was told.
Deputy Foreign Minister Kamarudin Jaffar said 1,424 Malaysians have been detained for drug-related offences, 406 for fraud and another 132 for credit card forgery.
He also said 89 people were caught for breaching Customs rules and another 66 individuals for flouting immigration laws.
“The data is based on information received from Malaysian representatives overseas,” he said.
Kamarudin said that of the 2,742 Malaysians jailed abroad, 614 were in Singapore, 403 in China, 360 in Thailand, 331 in Indonesia and 295 in South Korea.
He said the Malaysian representatives act according to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963 to inform family members of the arrests, further ensuring that the detainees’ welfare, security and health are looked into.
“They can also help to forward names of law firms that the detainees can go to,” he added.
Kamarudin was replying to Richard Riot (GPS-Serian) who asked for the latest figures of Malaysians jailed abroad and the ministry’s efforts to help them.
The Malaysian representatives, Kamarudin said, would also manage documentation to have the detainees returned to Malaysia.