'Airlines must manage turned-away travellers, no more 3rd party'

 

The government has decided that airline companies must manage travellers who are denied entry into Malaysia instead of a third party.

This is according to Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, who spoke to reporters after today's cabinet meeting in Putrajaya.

Saifuddin (above) said the decision was in line with the International Civil Aviation Organisation rule and Malaysia's Immigration Act, which stipulate that travellers turned away from a country are to be managed by the respective airline.

"So, when a traveller is about to depart from a location, the airline has the responsibility to make sure that the traveller has a return ticket before they issue a boarding pass.

"Because in case the travellers are not allowed entry, the law says that the airline is responsible to manage their deportation, including their stay, meals and their return flight.

"So, the cabinet today agreed that this responsibility should be returned to the airlines," he told a press conference at the Home Ministry.

The current practice saw airline operators in the country hiring the service of a company called Monocircle to manage travellers that are issued NTL (not to land) status by immigration.

According to Saifuddin, between January and June, a total of 3,984,823 travellers arrived in Malaysia through the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

From this figure, 14,977 were issued NTL for various reasons, including failure to show a return ticket, and an address for their stay in the country, among others.

The minister said travellers from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India were the top three nationals who have been turned away at Malaysia's entry points.

Erroneous report

On a related issue, Saifuddin reprimanded Malay daily Harian Metro for its report claiming that a China national had not left the country despite having been issued NTL.

The woman was among two travellers from China who were involved in the recent commotion at KLIA.

"I want to correct a Harian Metro report which quoted a source, claiming that there was no record of this China national leaving our country.

"According to our record, the woman left Malaysia on a Shenzhen Airline flight that departed at 8.55pm on July 4.

"So, the moral of the story here - the media must be careful in its reports," he said.

The report, which had since been taken down, had contradicted what MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki told the media last week about the two travellers. - Mkini