Take stern action against corrupted law enforcers, say crime watch groups
KUALA LUMPUR: Crime watch groups are urging the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to go all out and take stern action against crooked law enforcement officials who prey on immigrants for bribes.
Malaysian Corruption Watch (MCW) president Jais Abdul Karim said that if nothing was done, there might be a risk of international terrorist groups coming into the country by paying off the corrupted officials.
He said that the allegation by MACC was serious as the country’s safety could be easily compromised due to the greed of the officials.
“We have information that around 80 per cent of officers at one particular international entry point are involved in corruption. We have relayed the information to MACC as well.
“This is a frightening reality that we must swallow,” he said when contacted by the New Straits Times today.
Malaysia being an economically healthy country, he said, had attracted the immigrants who would be open to “invest” in corrupt officials to be allowed entry.
“Taking disciplinary actions or transferring the crooked officials to different departments will not be enough. These officers must realise the consequences to the country when such incidents continue to happen,” he added.
Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) president Dr Muhammad Mohan also agreed that serious action must be taken to remove corrupted officials.
He said that the statement by MACC was not surprising to him and it could be the reason for the country’s continuous drop in Transparency International’s yearly Corruption Perception Index.
Malaysia is ranked 61 out of 180 countries in the 2022 Corruption Perception Index and only scored 47 over 100, putting the country behind third-world countries such as Rwanda.
He also said that TI-M had many reports about enforcement officers themselves getting involved in crime and betraying the oath they took as civil servants.
“To overcome this serious problem, the government, the civil servants, union and enforcement bodies must work together to remove the tainted officials from the system.
“If we want to put our country back on track, there is no other way to do so except to go all out to fight these groups and get them out of our system. As a start, enforcement agencies themselves must clean up their own backyard first,” he added.
Earlier today, MACC said that immigrants had become a “gold mine” for crooked law enforcement officials to easily source for bribes. (https://www.nst.com.my/news/crime-courts/2023/03/893331/macc-immigrants-… )
MACC Deputy Chief Commissioner (Operations) Datuk Seri Ahmad Khusairi Yahaya said that this had contributed to the country becoming a destination for foreign workers to find work illegally, a drug transit centre in the Southeast Asian region, a centre for fraud and drug laboratories, as well as a hub for Macau scams, online gambling and more.