PETALING JAYA: A total of 387 individuals, mostly from Myanmar, have been arrested this year for trying to enter the country illegally through the Malaysia-Thailand border in Perlis.
Perlis police chief Surina Saad said authorities had nabbed 320 Myanmar nationals and 67 Thais between January and Oct 18.
This was seven times more than the number of arrests made last year during the pandemic when 54 individuals, including 32 Thais, were detained.
The border area in Perlis had made headlines following the discovery of mass graves at Wang Kelian in 2015.
“Based on our investigation, they came here without proper documentation to look for jobs and had chosen Malaysia because it is more peaceful,” Surina told FMT.
She said the General Operations Force (PGA) would continue to monitor the border to prevent encroachment and criminal activities such as smuggling and human trafficking.
Asked to comment on efforts to ensure the Wang Kelian incident would not recur, Perlis’ first female police chief said authorities would step up their intelligence gathering on human trafficking activities.
The issue of border security arose following Tuesday’s release of the royal commission of inquiry’s (RCI) report into the Wang Kelian incident.
The 184-page report outlined the weaknesses at the border and the investigation into the incident.
It stated, among others, that there were areas that were exposed to outsiders because they did not have any fencing or wall. It also cited the lack of assets for surveillance, including CCTV cameras, and proactive measures among the agencies guarding the border.
The CCTVs at the Integrated Immigration, Customs, Quarantine, and Security (ICQS) were mostly broken, it said.
These issues opened up the opportunity for encroachment.
Other than the police, the army is involved in monitoring the border.
In the 2015 incident, the remains of 138 undocumented immigrants and 148 graves were found, which led to the setting up of the RCI headed by former chief justice Arifin Zakaria three years later.
