Kelantan MACC aware border agencies staff working with human-traffickers

KOTA BARU: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in Kelantan said it was aware of border security enforcement officers working with human traffickers to smuggle illegal immigrants across state borders into Malaysia.

State MACC director Rosli Husain said these unscrupulous personnel were usually stationed at the state's entry points or other border areas, including smugglers' routes or 'rat lanes.

"These officers usually collect money from human traffickers or smugglers as a reward for turning a blind eye to illegal foreigners entering Kelantan through the border areas.

"Kelantan MACC had detected such activities based on the corruption cases involving the group over the last few years.

"However, their number isn't considered alarming as the respective departments had taken immediate action to put a stop to the menace," he told the New Straits Times.

Rosli acknowledged the difficulties faced by state agencies in curbing human-trafficking syndicates, given the presence of hundreds of rat lanes along the state's borders.

However, he said demand for illegal immigrants in Kelantan was relatively low compared to the west coast states.

"In Kelantan, foreign workers are only needed in the plantation and construction sectors. In other states, they are also wanted for other business sectors.

"Although they are less in demand here, smugglers and human traffickers still use Kelantan as a transit point as it located close to Thailand.

"These groups know which rat lanes are safer to use in order to smuggle in the illegal immigrants," he said.

It is understood that more than 200 rat lanes as well as illegal jetties exist along the Kelantan - Thai border, with the majority of them situated in Rantau Panjang and Tumpat.

MACC Deputy Chief Commissioner (Operations) Datuk Seri Ahmad Khusairi Yahaya today said immigrants have become a 'goldmine' for crooked law enforcement officials to easily source for bribes.

He said this, in turn, has damaged Malaysia's reputation and underscored the chronic and worrying level of corruption which has permeated into the country's law enforcement agencies.

He said is not only undocumented foreigners who are being targeted by corrupt officers, workers with legitimate permits as well as students with visas were also not exempted from the greed of these officials.

He also listed out 17 potential acts of corruption involving law enforcers who collect bribes from foreigners which includes bribing law enforcement officers at the country's entry points to speed up the exit and entry process for foreigners who overstay, are involved in crime, are blacklisted, do not meet entry requirements and so on.

These also included overland traffickers who smuggle illegal immigrants in through 'rat lanes' such as via maritime, forest and national borders.

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