PUTRAJAYA, Jan 5 — The Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) repatriated about 30 of the 50 suspected terrorists sent to Malaysia since 2014, said Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division Principal Assistant Director Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay.

He said the suspects were sent to this country following their detention in various countries which he declined to name.

According to international law, suspected terrorists detained in any country should be repatriated to their last port of embarkation, instead of the country that they wanted to go to, he added.

"If the suspect was detained in Dubai, for instance, then the suspect must be repatriated to Dubai and not Malaysia. If you ask him where he wants to go, of course he will say Malaysia because we are open, and they don’t need visa to come here,” he told reporters after delivering his talk at the Putrajaya International Security Dialogue (PISD) 2018 here today.

Ayob Khan said most of those repatriated were Daesh terrorist suspects of various nationalities, the majority of whom were Arabs. 

He also said some countries should share early information with Malaysia on the movements of terrorist suspects to facilitate the Malaysian police to take action against them, including monitoring, detaining and sending them to their countries of origin.

"We need intelligence sharing, if not, how can we detect any terrorist suspect?,” he asked.

He said the Malaysian Government and the RMP were constantly working to enhance cooperation with other countries to address problems related to the repatriation of terrorist suspects.

Previously, Reuters reported that Turkish authorities deported militant suspects to Kuala Lumpur without any prior notice after they were arrested while trying to enter Syria to join the Daesh group of militants.

Ayob Khan said 105 Daesh terrorist suspects had been detained last year, slightly lower than 119 arrested in 2016.

Commenting on the two-day PISD themed ‘Wisdom and Moderation in Combating Terrorism’, he said the dialogue was organised by the Home Ministry in collaboration with Rabitah Al-Alami Al-Islami (the Muslim World League), a non-governmental organisation based in Saudi Arabia. — Bernama