Volunteer security force defies critics in Malaysia

By Jalil Hamid

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia will not disband a 500,000-strong volunteer security force that was criticised this week for mistaking an Indonesian diplomat's wife for an illegal immigrant, its chief said on Wednesday.

Rela, which calls itself the government's "eyes and ears" and was originally set up in the 1960s to help fight a communist revolt, has been criticised for its lack of discipline and abusing the human rights of migrant workers.

"I admit there are a few Rela officers who may be high-handed," Rela Director-General Zaidon Asmuni told Reuters in an interview.

"It will not be disbanded just because of a few bad hats. Rela is becoming a force to be reckoned with ... so there are groups trying to distract Rela by harping on human rights," said the 51-year-old former immigration officer.

Wearing green uniforms and yellow berets, Rela groups launch raids everyday to trap illegal immigrants since being given such powers in 2005. Officers, of the rank of platoon commander and above, are allowed to carry firearms, while the rest use batons.

Zaidon, who reports to Malaysia's home ministry, said Rela had rounded up 28,300 immigrants so far this year, against 25,000 in the whole of 2006. The government pays each Rela member just 4 ringgit ($1.18) a hour for such an operation.

Rela's crackdown is winning support from Malaysians, who routinely blame foreigners for rising crime rates, which could emerge as a major issue in a general election widely expected to be called within months.

With Malaysians reluctant to take up menial jobs, there are nearly 3 million foreigners -- chiefly from Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Nepal -- working in Malaysia, some illegally.