Immigration Enforcement Director a ‘Marked’ Man
M. Husairy Othman, New Straits Times, March 8, 2005
Immigration Department enforcement director Datuk Ishak Mohamed is literally a “marked man” as far as Indonesian illegal immigrants are concerned.
These illegal immigrants were so peeved by him since Ops Tegas was launched on March 1 that they have vented out their anger in the only way they could think of.
Ishak’s photo which appeared in a local daily has been enlarged and pasted at the Indonesian embassy by these disgruntled illegal workers with a bold “X” drawn across.
Not satisfied with these, the word “degil” (stubborn) in red ink was also scribbled across his photo presumably by those affected by the crackdown on illegal immigrants.
When Ishak asked embassy officials as to why he, instead of the illegal workers, was termed stubborn, the reply he received had him bellowing with laughter.
“According to them (illegal immigrants), I was the stubborn one as they did not want to return to Indonesia and I was “forcing” them to do so although they had made their intentions (of staying here) clear,” he said.
When asked whether he was intimidated by the “hostile” act, his reply: “Someone has to do the job”.
Ishak was relating his experience to some 500 guests at a dinner for department heads who have either retired or been transferred to other states at the state secretariat here last night.
[Editor’s Note: For more on this story, click here.]
