Sarawak doesn't bar foreigners for no reason

by Peter Sibon, Johnson K Saai, Lim How Pim, Simon Ingka Crown, Lee Ya Yun, Antonia Chiam, Saiful Bahari, Wilfred Pilo and Nurul Amarlina. Posted on June 25, 2011, Saturday

IN DEEP THOUGHT: Special Functions Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Adenan Satem seemed to be in deep thought during lunch break at the DUN. - Photographers: Jeffrey Mostapa & Chimon Upon

KUCHING: Foreign women, particularly those from mainland China, cannot be denied entry to the state based on the complaints from unhappy wives.
“The Immigration Department can only take action if these foreign women had created social problems, infringed the entry conditions or were convicted for offences,” said Minister with Special Functions in the Chief Minister’s Office Tan Sri Datuk Amar Adenan Satem yesterday.
He was responding to Chiew Chiu Sing (DAP-Kidurong)’s question regarding the presence of women from mainland China in the state.
“There are complaints, especially from unhappy wives that these women come here on the pretext of being students using student passes or social passes,” he said.
Earlier, Chiew raised the issue of the presence of these women in the non co-ed dormitories of some private learning institutions, which caused parents to be concerned at the lax of security at the institutions.
On whether these women violated their entry conditions, Adenan said for the past five years a total of 117 mainland China women had been arrested, while 115 of them had been prosecuted for various offences under the Immigration Act 1959/63 and Immigration Regulations 1963.
“The Immigration Department of Malaysia has carried out continuous operations and inspections on companies’ premises as part of their monitoring system in ensuring that the passes granted are complied with to ensure that they are here based on their conditions of entry,” he said.
Adenan said holders of the People’s Republic of China passport are granted a maximum of 30 days of social pass upon entry provided they have valid visas.
As of April this year, the state recorded 11,390 visitors from China, against 34,388 last year, 38,477 (2009), 37,340 (2008), 24,908 (2007) and 19,310 (2006).