PUTRAJAYA (Bernama): Nearly 3,500 Immigration Officers had undergone Covid-19 screening since Nov. 25, 3,000 of which were quarantined and 20 treated after testing positive.
Director General Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud said immigration personnel as frontliners were at risk of exposure to the virus because they are in close contact with foreigners and illegal immigrants, whose health status was unknown.
However, he said the department remained committed to implementing the government’s foreign access policy, decided by the National Security Council, which saw 1,332 imported positive cases discovered on Nov. 30.
“Not only as the first security guards of the country’s entry point to encounter foreign visitors at risk of carrying Covid-19, they are also directly involved in tasks related to the control and prevention of the pandemic,” said he in a statement coupled with the 2020 Immigration Day celebration on Tuesday (December 1).
He said the department’s involvement could be seen in areas with many foreigners, and the treatment and quarantine centers of aliens such as the Malaysian Agro Exposition Park Serdang, as well as enforcement operations in areas with enhanced movement control (MCO).
He said that from January to November 30 this year, immigration had carried out 6,379 enforcement operations across the country, with inspections of 93,475 persons and detentions of 34,920 illegal immigrants and 376 employers.
In conjunction with the celebration, Khairul Dzaimee also launched Imigration’s 2020-2024 Anti-Corruption Plan, which aimed at more transparent governance and making high integrity as a way of life, in carrying out the duty of law enforcement.
To support the digitization initiative in government services and the adoption of new standards, he said the department had developed several systems such as an online appointment system (STO) and online survey system (SPO).
He added that the department always kept up with technology to ensure delivery could be improved and operating costs reduced. – Bernama
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