NO COMPROMISE ON SECURITY IN IMPLEMENTING VISA LIBERALISATION PLAN, DEWAN RAKYAT TOLD

KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 (Bernama) -- The government will not compromise on security aspects in implementing the Visa Liberalisation Plan (PLV), the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said that while the government wishes to attract tourists from abroad to Malaysia, strict measures are being taken, including requiring them to fill in the Malaysia Digital Arrival Card to obtain traveller information.

"We will tighten entry controls. We have also identified 224 foreigner hotspot locations," he said when replying to a question from Datuk Dr Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh (PN-Pasir Puteh).

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As of Jan 1, Saifuddin Nasution said a total of 7,975 operations had been carried out, with 76,477 foreigners inspected, and of that number, 20,207 were found without valid documents and had been repatriated to their home countries. 

“We have 19 immigration detention centres with the current capacity of 13,000 detainees, we are under capacity despite having detained over 20,000 individuals, who have been repatriated with the cooperation of embassies. 

"Some 465 employers who bring in workers without documents have also been detained," he said.

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Meanwhile, Saifuddin Nasution said that as of June 15, the Immigration Department recorded the arrival of 950,000 tourists from China and 443,000 from India.

Through the PLV, Chinese and Indian nationals are granted visa exemptions for a period of 30 days until Dec 31.

According to him, the PLV aims to generate national income and will be implemented with improvements to the existing immigration facilities enjoyed by travellers to Malaysia, including those from Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and West Asia. 

-- BERNAMA