KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 — A Malaysian transgender was arrested by Indonesian Immigration authorities in Batam after illegally applying for a passport from the republic, Indonesian daily The Jakarta Post reported today.
Batam Immigration Office head Erna Yunanti Murni said the 38-year-old, who was born a man, was arrested after officers grew suspicious with her request for the passport to identify her as a woman.
“She will be deported, but she will first be processed under the existing law for faking documents,” Erna told The Jakarta Post.
According to the Immigration department’s supervision and execution head, Rafli, the transgender went through a sex reassignment surgery in Thailand and was planning to use the passport to marry a student of Arab descent currently studying in Malaysia.
She once worked in a Jakarta-based IT company, and Rafli said she had faked documents claiming she was born in Jakarta and had lived in Kemayoran in Central Jakarta.
However, Rafli said the transgender admitted after intensive questioning that she was a Malaysian and had only recently arrived in Batam from Subang on Sunday.
Muslim-majority Malaysia continues to reject the perceived rise in non-heteteosexual activity, which together with growing calls for greater civil liberties, it deems to be an assault against Islam.
Transgender activists estimated that there are around 60,000 Malaysians who identify as transgenders, with Malays making up 70 per cent of them.
