Women held in Malaysia for 13 years insist they are 'royals from Sunda Empire'
Two women claiming to be "royal members" from a nation called the "Sunda Empire" in Indonesia's West Java have been detained by Malaysia's Immigration Department for the past 13 years, as they refuse to be identified as Indonesian citizens and are thus deemed to be stateless.
The duo, Fathia Reza, 36 and Lamira Roro, 34, first arrived in Kuching, Sarawak, in 2007, and are currently being held at the Melaka Immigration Depot, according to the Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
"They are detained for violating Malaysian Immigration regulations and for carrying a Sunda Empire passport, which is not recognised by the Malaysian authority," said Agung Cahaya Sumirat, coordinator for information and social cultural affairs at the Indonesian embassy.
The Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur and its consulate in Kuching, Sarawak state, said they had interviewed the women to clarify the status of their citizenship.
"But they refuse to acknowledge themselves as Indonesian citizens and were adamant in identifying themselves as citizens of the Sunda Empire," Agung said.
"Our impression is that their belief in being a member of the Sudanese Empire is what matters most [to them]," he added.
"The Malaysian immigration said their status is stateless," said Agung, adding that the two women spoke English and communicated well.
Fathia Reza's alleged passport. Photo: Facebook alt=Fathia Reza's alleged passport. Photo: Facebook
Indonesian news site Kompas quoted a lawyer named Erwin, who is representing the "Sunda group's leaders", as saying the two women are daughters of the so-called grand prime minister of the Sunda Empire, Nasri Banks, and a woman who goes by the title "her royal imperial highness", Raden Ratna Ningrum.
In January, Nasri Banks and his wife were arrested and charged for fraud in Indonesia.
The existence of self-proclaimed kingdoms within territories widely considered to belong to Indonesia came to the public's attention earlier this year, local media said, after footage of the activities of these groups were circulated on the internet.
One of the groups was the Sunda Empire, based in Bandung, West Java, which professed to be on a mission to settle the country's debt with the World Bank by 2020.
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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