PUTRAJAYA: Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein today gave an ultimatum to his Secretary-General, Datuk Seri Mahmood Adam and Immigration Director-General, Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman following the escape by 20 Afghan detainees from the KL International Airport (KLIA) Immigration Detention Centre early yesterday morning.
Hishammuddin said if the officers on duty during the incident and the monitoring system and enforcement were not functioning or implemented effectively at the depot, both of them faced the risk of being transferred.
"I'm totally dissatisfied...whatever system that we create, whatever emphasis that we give, whatever laws that we amend, if the work of my officers at the KDN (Home Ministry) and Immigration Department are not up to the mark, then such issues will persist.
"If it is only one case, maybe we can say it's an error...we may forgive. Two or three cases, we may say negligence. But if they occur repeatedly, I can no longer listen to the excuse that there are too many people at the detention centre," he said.
He said this when approached after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Illegal Immigrant Workers chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, here today.
In the incident at about 3am yesterday, all the detainees, aged between 25 and 40, were suspected to have cut the grilles of the two cell doors before escaping.
Previously on April 27, 12 Afghan and four Myanmar nationals aged between 22 and 48 had escaped through the grilles which had been cut off before escaping by climbing the perimeter fence of the same detention centre.
Commenting further, Hishammuddin wanted stern action to be taken to resolve the problem so that it would not be repeated. He did not deny that the depot might have weaknesses, but they could no longer be cited as the reason for the detainees to escape.
Meanwhile, Immigration Director-General Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman said he would accept the decision if he were to be transferred following the incident. He said the criticism made by Hishammuddin was justified because the incident affected national integrity.
"My fate is as stated by the minister. 'If something is not moving than the Director General has to be removed'. I accept this fact.
"It means that I was not functioning or I did not discharge my responsibility effectively as desired by the minister and government," Abdul Rahman said. - Bernama
No comments:
Post a Comment