Call to have effective communication network to check entry of migrants

KUALA LUMPUR: A crime analyst today proposed the need for an effective communication network between the local people and enforcement agencies in checking the entry of illegal immigrants across the country's borders.
Kamal Affendi Hashim said reports from the local people could alert the enforcement agencies into preventing any influx of illegal immigrants.
"We have to accept the fact that without the cooperation of the people, no information will be forthcoming.
"It is impossible for the enforcement personnel to be at the spot where the illegal immigrants, in this case Bangladesh nationals and the Rohingya ethnic community, land.
"The people in these areas can play a role by reporting to their village chiefs who, in turn, can relay the information to the authorities," he told Bernama.
Kamal Affendi said it could not be ruled out that the local people might not know to whom to report.
"This is where an effective communications network is all the more important for information to be conveyed fast, accurately and to the right agency," he said.
Kamal Affendi was asked for his comments in the wake of the influx of Rohingya and Bangladesh migrants to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia as well as the discovery of 139 graves of alleged victims of human traffickers in Perlis close to the Malaysia-Thailand border.
The migrants have entered Malaysia not only by land but also by sea. Earlier this month, 1,158 Bangladesh nationals and members of the Rohingya community from Myanmar landed in Langkawi.
They landed in Malaysia after Thailand launched a large-scale operation against human trafficking syndicates following the discovery of more than 30 bodies in Padang Besar and Songkhla in southern Thailand early this month.

It was reported that more than 7,000 migrants were in boats at sea waiting to land in Malaysia.
Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia have announced their intention to continue to provide humanitarian assistance to those migrants still at sea.
Malaysia and Indonesia also offered temporary shelter for the stranded migrants provided that the resettlement and repatriation process would be done in one year by the international community.
Meanwhile, Transparency International-Malaysia president Datuk Akhbar Satar said the Anti-Smuggling Unit and the General Operations Force should work together to secure the border areas and prevent the entry of illegal immigrants.
"The two agencies should make frequent patrols and adopt preventive measures. Malaysia seems to be a goldmine for refugees and migrants who would resort to any means to end up here," he said. – Bernama