12 July 2023
Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail says airlines have to provide ‘Not to Land’ travellers with food and arrange for their deportation.
The Cabinet has agreed not to allow any private company to manage the deportation of travellers served with the immigration department’s “Not to Land” (NTL) notice at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said Mono Circle Sdn Bhd had been appointed by airline operator companies to handle NTL travellers since February 2015.
However, Saifuddin said, International Civil Aviation Organization rules clearly state that airlines have to shoulder the responsibility of providing NTL travellers with food and arrange their travel out of the country.
“The Immigration Act also states that airlines should be responsible for these travellers’ deportation,” he said at a press conference here.
“The Cabinet today agreed that this process be managed by the airlines and not third parties.”
Transport minister Loke Siew Fook recently said the KLIA Airline Operators Committee, a committee of 40 airline operators at KLIA and 26 associates, had appointed the company to handle NTL passengers at KLIA.
The issue came to the spotlight after Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Azam Baki said an agent had purportedly solicited a fee to help a Chinese national after she was allegedly denied entry into Malaysia at KLIA last month.
This comes as tourism, arts and culture minister Tiong King Sing recently said he had attempted to intervene in the said case, resulting in a commotion with immigration officers at KLIA’s Terminal 1.
Tiong claimed his visit to the airport had exposed a “culture of corruption by a few officials and the chronic abuse of power”. It subsequently led to an MACC investigation.
On July 5, Saifuddin had said there might have been “confusion when a person subject to NTL is asked to provide a certain amount of money to purchase a return ticket. This can be mistaken as an immigration officer asking for money”.
Source: www.freemalaysiatoday.com
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