Four young Chinese women detained 18 days for missing immigration endorsement

Four young women from China ended up spending 18 days in detention sharing a cell with criminals for missing immigration endorsement. 

The four recounted their ordeal in a press conference organised by the Chinese-Consulate General in Sabah at the Kota Kinabalu Airport.

Wu Jingting, 24, Wang Xiuli, 25, Liu Ling, 22 and Zhang Qingsi arrived Kota Kinabalu from Shanghai on 4 December. 

Wu said they were confronted when leaving Tawau airport to fly to Kuala Lumpur and told to report to immigration the following day. They were detained at the immigration department and after 13 days of detention, they were moved to women’s prison for five nights. 

Wu said all of them cried when they were informed of the detention and they were handcuffed. More than 100 people were at the detention centre and the situation was worse when they were sent to the women’s prison. 

She said they were sharing the cell with murderer and drug addicts. All of them were traumatised by the ordeal. 

They only met their family members on 26 December and some good Samaritans who extended helping hands to them.

They were released on 28 December. 

The four of them were grateful to the help extended to them by locals and various agencies, especially the locals who helped them during their detention. 

Wang and Liu said the incident taught them to be more attentive to rules and regulations of a country. 

Wu said the four have arrived at the boarding gate for a flight to Tawau at the Kota Kinabalu Airport after making many wrong turns. They were left out from the original group of travellers.

Airport officials did not check their passports thoroughly when they were in transit at Kota Kinabalu Airport, they said. They did not see any immigration counter at the Tawau Airport. But when they were leaving Tawau Airport to fly to Kuala Lumpur, one of them was given an endorsement on the passport. Airport official only detected problem when they were entering boarding gate. 

“We admit that we have been making mistakes and took many wrong ways. But we could not understand why no one stop us,’’ they said. 

Consul of the People’s Republic of China in Kota Kinabalu, Wang Kai, said the cases of tourists missing endorsements on passports keep repeating and Chinese tourists are subjected to ` different treatment` from standard practice. He hopes that such case will not repeat again.

“We respect Malaysia law. The root cause lies with unclear signages and even lack of signages at certain area in the airport. Travellers can bypass immigration counters to board on a transit flight. We have never heard of such cases in other airports in the world!” he said.

Wang Kai said from 2018 to 2019, there were more than 20 cases of Chinese tourists being detained and fined for missing immigration endorsements. 

He said when checking the situation with consulates of Japan and Brunei, they encountered similar cases too. 

But the Japanese and the Brunei people were asked for pay a fee for a special access card and they were allowed to depart, he said. 

Wang Kai said the Chinese Consulate has put in effort to attract more Chinese nationals to visit Sabah. Currently Chinese tourists made up of 45% of foreign tourists visiting Sabah, generating huge tourism revenue for the state. 

The incident of four Chinese women being detained have created a strong reaction in China, he said.

Wang Kai said Year 2020 is Malaysia-China Tourism Year. The Chinese Consulate is keen to work with authorities in Sabah for the state to be a popular tourist destination for Chinese tourists.