PUTRAJAYA, June 12 ― A group claiming to represent families of those aboard Flight MH370 must identify themselves before Putrajaya will finalise a meeting with them, deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin said today.

Hamzah, who chairs the committee dealing with next-of-kin of those on the missing plane, said it is unfair for the group calling itself Voice370 to expect full disclosure from the government when they are unwilling to name themselves.

“I received an email from Voice MH370 that had no signature. Who are they? What authority do they have and how many next-of-kin are they representing? When I asked them that, they didn't want to reveal anything because they said it is confidential,” he said at a news conference here.

“You want us to be transparent, so you need to be transparent with me,” he added.

Last Friday, a group calling itself Voice370 wrote to Hamzah to request the meeting, as well as assistance for the families during this “difficult” period, giving Putrajaya until yesterday to inform them formally of its decision.

A group of families have also launched a crowdsourcing campaign to raise US$5 million (RM16.05 milion) to pay whistleblowers and private investigators to conduct their own search for the missing Malaysia Airlines-owned Boeing 777.

On Monday, Putrajaya agreed to hold the meeting “in due time”

“With regards to the Next of Kin committee, we acknowledge Voice370’s request to meet with Malaysia’s prime minister, the acting transport minister and the chair of the Next of Kin Committee,” Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Jailani Johari said in a statement.

“This meeting will be arranged in due time and we look forward to establish a working template in dealing with issues raised by the Next of Kin.”

Hamzah today denied claims that the government had neglected the families, insisting that they have been open and transparent from the very beginning.

He stressed that his committee has been in touch with “almost all” the families of the 239 passengers and crew on board the missing plane.

It is the families' right to raise funds to launch their own search for the plane, but they must also acknowledge that the government has done all it can in dealing with the incident, Hamzah added.

“Sometimes I'm in a very difficult position. I would like to look into it and resolve the matter, but when it comes to this, it's unprecedented.

“We don't know if we are doing the right thing or they are doing the right thing,” he said.

MH370 disappeared after leaving Kuala Lumpur for Beijing on March 8 with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board.

After two months of intensive search, the hunt was scaled back to an undersea operation in the southern Indian Ocean west of Australia that is expected to take between eight to 12 months.