DEWAN NEGARA PASSES IMMIGRATION AMENDMENT BILL MANDATING SUBMISSION OF PASSENGER DETAILS

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 (Bernama) -- Operators of sea vessels, aircraft and trains arriving at berths, airports or entry points in Malaysia will soon be required to submit passenger name records and passenger information.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah said the provision was stipulated under the Immigration (Amendment) Bill 2025, which was passed by the Dewan Negara today.

“Failure to submit passenger name records, advance passenger information, or the submission of false or misleading information constitutes an offence,” he said when tabling the Bill for its second reading, before it was debated by 12 senators.

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Shamsul Anuar said the Bill also provided for inspections of sea vessels, aircraft or trains to determine the presence or absence of other persons on board the conveyance, as well as the obligation to submit relevant documents.

The amendments, he said, also required the driver of every train arriving in Malaysia to stop the conveyance at an entry point authorised under Section 18(a).

Elaborating further, he said the entire process of entry and exit could be carried out with greater transparency and integrity, with the Home Ministry (KDN) also strengthening monitoring at manual counters.

“All officers of the Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency (AKPS) will be required to wear body cameras while on duty, while counters will be monitored by closed-circuit television cameras equipped with artificial intelligence (AI)-based video analytics,” he said.

He said with these measures, any suspicious behaviour could be detected at an early stage, closing off opportunities for illegal practices, and that KDN remained committed to enforcing strict control and inspection at the country’s entry points.

The Dewan Negara today also passed the Passport (Amendment) Bill 2025. The sitting resumes tomorrow.

-- BERNAMA