PUTRAJAYA, Nov 10 (Bernama) -- Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has stressed that Malaysia will not compromise on any attempt to breach the country’s waters by illegal immigrants or human trafficking activities.
However, he said priority will always be given to saving lives in incidents such as capsized boats in Malaysian waters.
“Whether they are termed refugees, victims of human smuggling or human trafficking, the main duty of enforcement agencies is to prevent them from entering our waters.
“However, in the event of a boat capsizing, our job is to save lives first. If we just let them drown, that would be inhumane — so we save them,” he told a press conference after attending the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons (WDAT) event here today.
He said Malaysia remains committed to fulfilling its humanitarian responsibilities during emergencies, while at the same time upholding the principles of national sovereignty and security.
Commenting on the recent boat capsizing incident in Langkawi, Saifuddin Nasution said the search and rescue (SAR) operation is being actively carried out, covering an area of about 250 nautical square miles.
He said the current focus of the operation is around four to five nautical miles from the country’s coastline, and all victims found, whether alive or dead, will be taken to Langkawi Island.
“First, we need to determine whether they possess any documents — either entry documents into this country or personal identification. If they have none, they will be categorised under immigration offences.
“Then, we will identify their country of origin and investigate where they started their journey and their last known location before the incident,” he said.
Six more bodies of migrants believed to be victims of the capsized boat were found floating by Thai authorities in the Malaysian-Thai border waters yesterday.
The latest discovery brings the total number of victims found so far to 26 — 13 survivors and 13 confirmed dead.
-- BERNAMA
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