KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 (Bernama) — The single border agency (SBA) that will be established in the country needs to be empowered to handle the country’s border affairs covering policy and border security.
Crime analyst Shahul Hamid Abdul Rahim said this is because the management of the country’s border currently involves many agencies such as the police, customs and immigration, each with their respective jurisdictions, which may reduce the effectiveness of the border security control.
“We used to have an Anti Smuggling Unit and several other bodies, but the law is still in force in the respective agencies.
“For example, cases involving the police will be handed over to the police, immigration cases according to the immigration law, as so is customs cases, they will be handed to the department for action,” he told Bernama.
According to him, with the existence of the SBA as a department with power, all matters including those related to arrests should be handled by the SBA officers themselves based on the jurisdiction given to them.
Shahul said he is confident that with the existence of the SBA, the management of the country’s borders can be carried out more effectively and subsequently be able to reduce problems and crimes in the border area.
Meanwhile, Geostrategist and Senior Fellow of the Nusantara Strategic Research Academy Prof Dr Azmi Hassan said that the existence of this SBA will reduce bureaucracy and thus make tasks at the border more efficient.
“If we look at most foreign countries, they have a single agency that controls border-related matters and it is important because it involves national security and sovereignty issues, especially in making any border decisions.
“For example, the United States has border enforcement agencies. We know that the country is currently facing problems with the arrival of foreign immigrants from Mexico. Imagine if there is no single agency, the border management will be more chaotic,” he said.
Commenting further, he said the SBA also needs to focus on helping to formulate policies for better border security from time to time.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail was reported to have recently that a bill was being drafted to realise the establishment of a single border agency.
He said the cabinet agreed to the bill proposal to set up a new SBA entity which will use one name and operate as the new border control agency.
The establishment of SBA, said Saifuddin, would allow a more efficient and faster delivery system, with better coordination among agencies and improve the issue of integrity.
