Malaysia drops idea of travel restriction for women - Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia rejected on Monday a proposal to impose restrictions on women travelling overseas on their own following an outcry from women's groups.

Home (Interior) Minister Syed Hamid Albar said his ministry could not impose conditions requiring women to get written consent from their family before they can travel abroad alone.

"There cannot be (such) a rule," the national Bernama news agency quoted him as telling reporters.

"When a person applies for a passport, we don't ask them where they are going. A person who wants to travel, makes his or her own decision to travel and how they are going to do it is up to them."

Foreign Minister Rais Yatim said on Saturday both the foreign and home ministries mooted the idea in response to a string of cases where women travelling alone were used by international drug syndicates to smuggle drugs across borders.

The Foreign Ministry clarified on Monday that Rais's proposal only related to children and women below 21 years of age.

[More at http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKKLR14376420080505]