KOTA KINABALU – The Sabah Immigration Department will take disciplinary action against its officers linked to a syndicate that used the MyKad to help undocumented migrants travel.
Sabah Immigration director Datuk SH Sitti Saleha Habib Yussof said internal disciplinary proceedings will take place while waiting for the case to be heard in court.
In the meantime, the officers will be assigned to new roles, but she declined to say what action would be taken if the officers were found guilty later.
“They are still being investigated. We are not certain how deep this syndicate goes in the Immigration Department, but we will probably know its scale after the police complete their investigation,” she told reporters here today.
“Still, we will proceed with disciplinary action against them. We will give them new roles and they will not return to their old posts. This is a regular procedure in the civil service.
“There will be rotations. Officers will be rotated, especially in sensitive roles. They can only stay in one position between three and five years,” Sitti Saleha added.
Yesterday, police detained nine individuals including immigration officers hours after they were released by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on bail. They were first detained on March 25 and were remanded for six days.
The nine individuals comprising four men and five women were arrested under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 for their alleged involvement in providing services that enabled undocumented migrants to travel to the peninsula from Tawau using another person’s Mykad.
“They have been arrested to assist our investigations under Section 26A of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 2007.
“The arrests were made at about 1.50pm at the Wisma Persekutuan Tawau Sabah Building,” Tawau police chief Jasmin Hussin was reported saying by Bernama. – The Vibes, March 31, 2023
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