Namibian envoy to M'sia alleges rude treatment by KLIA Immigration officer

Namibia High Commissioner to Malaysia Anne Namakau Mutelo was allegedly subjected to rude treatment by an Immigration officer at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Aug 12 while trying to secure the release her two nephews who were kept in detention for over three hours.

The Namibian High Commission to Malaysia highlighted the incident, which it said was a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, in a formal complaint letter to Wisma Putra issued later the same day.

Free Malaysia Today quoted Mutelo who said her two nephews - Adventure Simataa Simasiku and Roydie Mabengano Simasiku - were asked to leave the immigration line at around 6.25pm to enter a room already packed with other Africans.

"They were told this was the immigration office for them to get their passports stamped to enter Malaysia.

"They were detained for three hours in this immigration ‘office’ with many other Africans," Mutelo told the online portal today.

Mutelo added that her nephews had informed an immigration officer on duty that they were related to her and she was on the way to pick them up.

Upon her arrival, Mutelo said she informed the immigration officers of her status as the high commissioner to Malaysia and further requested to know the reasons for the detention.

An Immigration officer on duty had also allegedly provoked Mutelo by repeatedly saying "this is Malaysia and not Namibia" before finally releasing the two brothers at sometime after 9pm.

The formal complaint was lodged with Wisma Putra as the body responsible for the welfare of diplomatic representatives in Malaysia.

According to the diplomatic note, Adventure had attempted to record the altercation between Mutelo and the officer but was allegedly threatened with arrest and forced to delete the clip before allowed to leave.

In response, Wisma Putra was quoted by FMT as saying that the foreign ministry deeply regretted the incident and the official complaint had been forwarded to the Immigration Department for investigation and necessary action.

"The incident, though regrettable, is not targetted against any nationals from the African region," it said.

Malaysiakini has also contacted the Immigration Department for comments on the incident.