7 February 2023
The Immigration Department will initiate an internal investigation once it receives more details from a complaint that an airport officer had been rude when dealing with foreign visitors.
Immigration Director-General Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud said the complainant should share the complete details of the incident for the department to initiate its investigations.
He said as per the standard operating procedures, the department would initiate an investigation whenever there were any complaints against its officers and the public could always direct their grouses by sending him an email directly.
“They can directly email me through kpi@imi.gov.my should there be any complaints,” he said when contacted.
He was responding to a New Straits Times (NST) letter from the public claiming that an immigration officer had been rude by shouting at foreign visitors who were not orderly while waiting to get their passports stamped.
The incident allegedly occurred at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on Jan 23.
He said immigration officers have been instructed to carry out their duties with friendliness, professionalism and integrity
“Nevertheless, the public is also requested to give their full cooperation to the officers on duty and not make any provocative moves that can challenge the officers’ patience,” he said.
Meanwhile, a 24-hour poll conducted on NST Online’s Twitter platform found that 23.2 per cent of the 203 respondents were bothered by the rude staff of the immigration counters at KLIA.
However, almost half (48.3 per cent) of the respondents were frustrated with the long queue.
“They can be rude with Malaysians and foreigners that aren’t white. Sometimes they get better treatment than Malaysians,” said Instagram user brownclownery.
Another Instagram user, junibs said: “I saw a foreigner get scolded for getting to the wrong counter. But immigration officers have always been fierce even in Singapore.”
Meanwhile another user, haekalgif from Indonesia said he had to queue over three hours just to get through immigration at KLIA.
“Only 30 per cent of the staff were friendly and some were not even smiling,” he said.
Results of the poll also revealed that 17.7 percent of the respondents were frustrated with the unclear instructions at the airport while 10.8 per cent were dissatisfied with the attitude of the passengers.
Source: www.nst.com.my
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