PUTRAJAYA: The Immigration Department is now reducing the rotational posting duration for its staff in sections vulnerable to bribery, abuse of power, and misconduct to one year to ensure the integrity of its services.
Its director-general, Datuk Ruslin Jusoh, said the department continuously strives to improve operational standard operating procedures and acts firmly to ensure that none of its members and officers are involved in abuse of power and corruption.
He did not deny that some of his members and officers have been involved in misconduct and corruption, even admitting that he has personally received complaints regarding the matter.
He said that one of the efforts made to ensure that no immigration officers are exposed to these crimes and misconduct is the implementation of work rotations.
"At Immigration, we implement a work rotation of a maximum of three years for critical tasks; however, there are those I rotate within a year.
"Those at entry points or in enforcement sections are exposed to offers of bribery, abuse of power, misconduct, and other activities, so we frequently rotate them to prevent these officers from becoming entrenched, rooted, and expanding their influence. Hence, the work rotation is very effective.
"Every action taken is to let the public know that Immigration is serious about addressing these issues.
"I don't want our officers to be seen negatively by the public because we need to uphold higher values. But because of a few bad apples, the Immigration Department's reputation is affected," he said in a meeting with the media here.
Ruslin said any staff or officers who cannot maintain integrity should leave the department because many others are ready to join.
He said the department's strictness in maintaining integrity is evident in the disciplinary actions taken against 96 staff members throughout last year until now, with five being dismissed in the same period.
The Immigration Department has also issued work suspension orders against 31 officers facing court charges during that period.
"My only reminder is this: We must respect the uniform (the trust and responsibility) we wear. If you have no integrity, just remove the uniform (resign); don't stay in Immigration.
"As immigration officers, we have power. Remember, the power we have should not be abused. We should be enforcing the law and maintaining national stability, not colluding with syndicates, cartels, and so on," he said.
Ruslin said they have also received complaints about immigration officers being involved with employment 'agents' and similar activities.
He added that every complaint received will be thoroughly investigated based on evidence.
"I will not let them off but instead conduct a thorough investigation. Currently, there are three investigations I am conducting, but two have been found to be baseless, while one is still ongoing.
"The fact is, we do take action. I will not let them off or ignore the issue. Instead, I will instruct the integrity unit to open an investigation file, call these individuals, obtain records, closed-circuit television footage, and so on.
"However, we cannot take action so easily because there may be parties dissatisfied with us. So, in other words, when we receive complaints, we take action. If there is evidence, we hand it over to the relevant agency," he said.