SAFETY ISSUE: The Foreign Ministry says its proposal to ask women travelling alone abroad to get written consent from their parents comes amid reports that 90 per cent of Malaysians imprisoned on drug-related charges are women. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

A day after women's groups slammed the move, his ministry issued a statement saying the minister was 'specifically referring to children and women under the age of 21'.

In the statement issued yesterday, the Foreign Ministry said the minister 'meant well in his proposal, which is to help protect our citizens', since girls are 'targeted by unscrupulous parties with attractive promises and facilities'.

'The proposal to facilitate young persons with parental letters of intent would not be a violation of human rights since it would, if accepted, only apply to those who are still under the legal guardianship of their parents to begin with,' it clarified.

Last Saturday, Datuk Seri Rais had said the move was being proposed to stop Malaysian women from becoming 'mules', or carriers, for international drug syndicates.

The idea, he said, came about following reports that 119 Malaysians, 90 per cent of them women, have been imprisoned worldwide on drug-related charges.

Some of these women are undergraduates. The majority of them are believed to have been duped into transporting drugs from Malaysia.

The minister's clarification came on the same day that Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said the proposal could lead to difficulties.

He told the Bernama news agency that 'the proposal to obtain the consent will only create great difficulty, particularly for the immigration authorities and also the women concerned'.

The Foreign and Home Ministries should instead issue a travel advisory urging Malaysians to be alert when travelling overseas, he said.

Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar concurred.

'How can we ask an adult person to report to the mother or to the parents. They have to lead their own lives,' he said, adding that education is a better way forward.

'What is important is to create awareness so they are not attracted by offers of handsomely paid jobs overseas unless they know the background of the person making the offer,' he told reporters.

Cases of young girls going to jail after being caught smuggling drugs have been making headlines here recently.

University graduate Umi Azlim Mohamad Lazim, 24, was lured by a high-paying courier job advertised on the Internet.

She was caught at Shantou airport in China in January last year with nearly 3kg of heroin in her luggage, and has been sentenced to death.

In another case, tour guide Irene Manggi, 22, was arrested in Brazil for possession of cocaine.

It was reported that while in Spain last year, she was given a bag by a Nigerian man and a note telling her to bring the package to Sao Paolo, where she was detained.

hazlinh@sph.com.sg