Rayhan to be sent back home tonight

KUALA LUMPUR: The Bangladeshi migrant worker who was involved in the controversial Al Jazeera documentary will be deported back home tonight.

Immigration Department director-general Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud said Md Rayhan Kabir who was featured in the international news channel’s documentary titled, Locked Up in Malaysia’s Lockdown, will be sent home via a flight from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

“The deportation team will be transporting Md Rayhan to KLIA at 9pm,” he said in a statement today.

On Aug 19, it was reported that Md Rayhan will be deported to his country of origin without any charges by the Immigration Department.

Md Rayhan’s lawyers K Sumitha Shaanthinni and C Selvaraja in a statement had said Md Rayhan will be deported immediately after his Covid-19 screening test results.

Sumitha said the deportation process would include getting a flight ticket to Bangladesh.

Md Rayhan was detained by the Immigration Department under the Immigration Act 1959/63 (Act 155) following his interview on the July 3 documentary programme.

In the video, he criticised Malaysia’s handling of illegal immigrants during its fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Immigration Department previously sought the public’s help to find Md Rayhan according to the Immigration Act 1959/63.

He was later found hiding in a condominium at Jalan Pahang on July 24.