In the face of the recent influx of ethnic Rohingyas fleeing from persecution in Myanmar, Malaysia finds itself caught between encountering a humanitarian crisis and having to deal with the security and social problems that are bound to arise when asylum-seekers are allowed to swarm into the nation.UNHCR is the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.
"Several countries, namely Saudi Arab, Yemen and several Middle East countries have indicated interest in adopting such a card for their students students here," he added.
Based on ministry's records, there were some 80,000 international students in the country last year. The aim is to attract 200,000 foreign students by 2020.
In a related issue, Ahmad Zahid said that a pilot project is currently underway to implement the biometric identity card for the 2.116mil foreign workers in the country by the end of next year.
The government is prepared to consider the suggestion for the scrapping of the indelible ink and changing to the biometric system for the general election.
Citi has rolled out a new ATM in Asia, Citibank Express, which enables customers to perform nearly all banking jobs including opening accounts and applying for loans, cards and cashier’s checks, without visiting a branch.Malaysia & Singapore are already at the forefront of biometric deployments so it's no surprise Citi is rolling out the machines there first.
New machines are already being installed in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, while installation at in-branch and out-of-branch locations across Asia and globally will follow later this year.
For customer identity authentication, the new machine is outfitted with an online banking connection, video-conferencing and biometric capability.
Touted to be the first-of-its-kind “Bio-Visa” to be introduced in the world, those who do not comply with the Immigration Department’s proposed Biometric-Visa will be slapped with a “Not to Land” (NTL) notice and turned back.
Effective today, those entering the state from Singapore will no longer have to fill up the Immigration disembarkation cards or white cards.In the early stages of implementation, Malaysia's border initiatives were not met with universal acclaim. Now, it seems that having the new technology in place has allowed for far more efficient border management that is both more rigorous and less consuming of time and paper than the system that used to be in place.
This will ease the hassle faced by thousands of foreigners, especially Singaporeans.
Thousands of Singaporeans and people of other nationalities enter the state daily.
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| Malaysia Map & Singapore Map Source: CIA The World Factbook. Johor–Singapore Causeway Source: Wikipedia (Click Image to Enlarge) |
Mohamed Nazri, who is the minister in charge of parliament and law, said since whipping was introduced for illegal foreign workers, the problem of illegals had not lessened but became worse.In other Malaysia news...
“Therefore, a new penalty such as imposing a big fine could perhaps replace whipping.” He said new technology such as the biometric system could be an effective measure to control the entry of illegal foreign workers into the country. Asked whether Malaysia planned to abolish whipping for other offences, the minister said it was more suitable for serious offences like rape.
At least 25,000 demonstrators swamped Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, hoping to pressure Prime Minister Najib Razak's ruling coalition - which has held power for nearly 55 years - to overhaul electoral policies before polls that could be held as early as June.Biometrics can help and, as we have seen, Malaysia has implemented biometric solutions in other areas.
Authorities insist the elections will be free and fair, rejecting activists' claims that the Election Commission is biased and that voter registration lists are tainted with fraudulent names.
After being extended twice from the original October 10 deadline, enforcement bodies are ready to weed illegals out of their hiding places and those working in unapproved sectors, freelancing as contractors and plumbers, the two jobs that are not a part of the country's foreign workers' policy.
One of the 6P features that may just do the trick to prevent the influx of immigrants would be the biometric system.
By now, thumbprints of legal workers would have been stored in a database, preventing them from leaving one sector to join another, or deserting an employer in search of a better paying job.
Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, however, said: "We are still very dependent on them (foreign workers)."
He said businesses continued to clamour for foreign labour.
According to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the idea is to eliminate the time inspection officers spend manually entering document information into a computer as well as increase security for officers. Also touted by Unisys as heralding a 21st century approach to processing millions of crossings every year, the El Paso system was erected under a 2010 contract awarded to the company.This well-written and richly detailed article reminded me of some of the issues surrounding a similar implementation on the Malaysia-Singapore border earlier this year.
But on recent days, pedestrians crossing the Paso del Norte Bridge into El Paso have encountered long delays. A little more than three weeks after the new pedestrian processing lanes were opened, this reporter and a friend spent about 1 hour and 40 minutes waiting to cross back into El Paso.
The Election Commission today announced the use of indelible ink and advanced voting for the coming general election.
Malaysian authorities have launched a nationwide manhunt to track down almost 3,000 foreigners possessing either more than one identity or travel document, and with some of them reportedly having criminal records.This story represents an interesting continuation of Malaysia's efforts to assert more control over its international borders and the presence of foreigners within those borders. We have followed Malaysia's use of biometric technologies in tese efforts for some time.
The country''s Immigration Department discovered their presence when scrutinising its files before beginning the biometric system database for all the legal and illegal workers.
"We are working closely with the police and Interpol to trace and arrest them," Immigration director-general Alias Ahmad said.
Bosses who failed to register their foreign workers under the recent 6P amnesty programme face up to 15 years in jail or a fine of up to RM1mil under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.The 6P program involves the biometric registration of all foreign workers in Malaysia and an amnesty component. The thinking seems to be that among those who did not register, there may be something illegal about the character of their employment separate from their status with the State Immigration Department.
State Immigration director Nasri Ishak said the department was currently carrying out raids at work places and foreign worker enclaves to comb for errant employers.
“We have caught several employers in Johor Baru, two of whom have more than 100 foreigners working for them. The others have about 20 to 50 workers,” he said after attending the department's open day here yesterday.
"This facility expedites the immigration inspection process at entry points of both countries, and with this facility, FTF users need only obtain passport verification, once every three months." He said this was because, verification and entry or exit activities were recorded electronically, using biometric fingerprints which did not require them to fill out disembarkation forms.Malaysia had some real growing pains with the biometric border checks with Singapore (lots of posts here). The fact that the news media in Singapore has been largely silent on the subject lately leads me to assume that those growing pains have largely subsided. That Malaysia is considering a re-run with Brunei reinforces the belief that (a) Malaysia is confident that it can apply the lessons it learned with Singapore to its border with Brunei and (b) there were gains associated with the biometric installation at the Singapore border that makes extending its use to Bth border with Brunei desirable.
The theft and sale of Malaysian passports could end soon when Kuala Lumpur signs in to a global system for e-passport validation, which enables other countries to read details, such as fingerprints, in the chip embedded in the passport.I like that this article puts Interoperability on an equal footing with Technology. Identity management is about people. An efficient and successful ID management system depends upon good information, good technology and good relationships between those who create (and vouch for) an identity document and those who accept the ID document as valid.
Black market sales of Malaysian passports are a thriving business as citizens of countries with dubious reputations pay good money to enjoy the same treatment Malaysians get at entry points.
Government sources said while Malaysia's e-passports were embedded with a smart chip, other countries could not access the database or read the details.
However, by being a part of the International Civil Aviation Organisation's Public Key Directory, Malaysian passports would benefit from interoperability with border controls of at least 75 nations.
Interoperability refers to the ability of a system to work with other systems.
"We put a digital signature into the chip or the magnetic strip," Conner said in his Dallas headquarters office. "We encrypt and digitally sign all of the personal information that you provide so that it can't be tampered with."
The same is true for more than half of the passports issued by governments around the world.
Passports in six European countries and Malaysia have added biometric photos and fingerprints embedded by Entrust to foil counterfeiters. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates use its encryption for their national identity cards, some with biometrics.
But the piece de resistance is an all-in-one smart card developed for Interpol so that its law enforcers can move seamlessly from one country to the next, get inside any of its worldwide facilities and securely hook up at even the most insecure public Internet kiosk or cafe.
The MACS [ed. Malaysia Automated Clearance System] is a biometric system that allows swifter processing at checkpoints into the country.Singapore-Malaysia isn't your average international border.
State director Nasri Ishak said so far, more than 100,000 foreigners have registered for the MACS.
The five places include the second floor inside City Square Johor Baru shopping complex, Giant Hypermarket in Tampoi, Jaya Jusco in Tebrau and Holiday Plaza.
“These are places Singaporeans frequent.
“The counters would be open from 10am to 10pm,” he said, adding that it only took five minutes to register.
Nasri said that since the system was implemented in 2009, 98% of applicants has been Singaporeans.
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| Malaysia Map & Singapore Map Source: CIA The World Factbook. Johor–Singapore Causeway Source: Wikipedia (Click Image to Enlarge) |
