I refer to the special report by NST on how Malaysia has become a dumping ground for would-be Islamic State fighters who were arrested in other countries for attempting to join the terrorist group in Syria.
The report implied that the reason for this was because of our visa-free arrangement to the terrorists’ country of origin.
Because these IS fighters, some flagged as “high risk”, were allowed to enter Malaysia, our police have to be mobilised to track them down.
My question is: Why did our Immigration let them enter Malaysia in the first place?
During the MH370 crisis, the Malaysian Immigration Department was criticised after its admission that it did not check visitors against the Interpol database, allowing two Iranians with forged passports to pass through.
I have several times raised inside and outside of Parliament the problems with our multi-million ringgit biometric and computerised Immigration management system. I have also warned of an insider syndicate that has been facilitating human trafficking in the country.
In October 2014, I highlighted how the National Foreigners Enforcement and Registration System may have potentially been breached to allow 718,000 suspicious foreigners to enter our country in 2013.
The Auditor-General’s Report in April 2016 highlighted how another system, the MyEG online migrant worker permit renewal system, had breached immigration laws by illegally renewing the permits of almost 9,000 migrant workers in 2013 and 2014.
In June 2016, it was reported that the authorities busted an insider syndicate in the Immigration Department that had been sabotaging the computer system called the Malaysia Immigration System (MyIMMS) to allow illegal entry into Malaysia.
All these systems are provided by private contractors who were awarded contracts worth hundreds of millions – without open tender – with yearly recurring payments.
Malaysians were told these expensive contracts and purchases were necessary to ensure that our entry points were strengthened against intrusion. Yet, today, our Immigration gatekeepers are letting North Korean operatives and IS terrorists into the country!
Is the problem with the tools? Or the insider syndicate? Or both?
With such a severe rot in the system, nothing less than a Royal Commission of Enquiry on Immigration Reform will do to deal with our immigration crisis.
Steven Sim is the MP for Bukit Mertajam.
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