PETALING JAYA, 30th AUGUST – Subang Member of Parliament, R. Sivarasa, revealed today the involvement of several parties in bringing Bangladeshi nationals into Malaysia since March.
He claimed the Union Tours & Travels Ltd (UTT), a MAS-appointed sales agent operating in Bangladesh, is suspected to be working with the Malaysian High Commission in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Malaysia Immigration Department at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
Sivarasa said the five direct flights from Dhaka to KLIA employed two of Malaysia Airlines’ (MAS) aircraft and one of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Regent Airways and United Airways’ each.
“The plane was carrying nearly 1,000 passengers using forged tourist visas for a fee of 32,000 taka (RM1,300).
“If applied directly to the High Commission of Malaysia, the fee is only 500 taka (RM20), and the service fees are allowed up to 1000 taka (RM40).
“These direct payments are to facilitate the registration process in Dhaka. The majority of them can be verified whether they were genuine tourists had immigration inspections been more vigilant,” he said.
He was speaking at a press conference on human trafficking crimes at the PKR headquarters today. Former MAS senior official, Mohamad Tahir Fazal Mohd, also attended.
Sivarasa urged for stricter actions to be taken to curb the illegal entries of thousands of foreign citizens. He even filed a report to the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Also included are the names and passport numbers of the five Bangladeshi nationals who obtained tourist visas via UTT illegally.
– FZL
