The Immigration Department has admitted to weaknesses in KLIA’s security system, following the reveal that two men had boarded missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 with stolen passports.
Director-General Aloyah Mamat conceded these weaknesses, and said continuous checks and improvements were made to ensure these flaws were not exploited.
“Flaws exist even in the best security systems, even ours.
“That is why security checks and internal audits are conducted consistently to test the health and integrity of systems such as that at KLIA.
“KLIA security measures and procedures pass international standards and regulations, but dubious parties will always try to search for weaknesses and exploit them,” said Aloyah.
“For obvious reasons, we cannot reveal our security measures to ensure their integrity.
“However, known measures in immigration such as biometric scans, metal detectors and 24-hour closed circuit TV monitoring are backed up by experienced officers on the ground.
“Throughout the years, all related national security agencies have worked together to create a proficient and constantly updated security web at KLIA,” she said.
According to Aloyah, all immigration officers undergo thorough training and extensive screening before being hired.
“They are expected to be perceptive, informative and up-to-date on current immigration security issues, cases of security breaches and their counter-measures.”
Aloyah said all possible scenarios were being investigated with an internal probe under way to re-assess whether security measures were up to par.
“Security checks are heavily supervised and my officers act according to security regulations.
“I am personally heading an internal investigation to assess immigration security at KLIA, as well as liaising with related agencies on the issue.
‘‘Nothing is confirmed yet because we are still investigating.”
Security measures in plance in KLIA were put into question after Interpol confirmed two passports – one belonging to Austrian Christian Kozel and another to Italian Luigi Maraldi – were recorded in its Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database but were used by two passengers to board Flight MH370.
Interpol is also conducting checks on all other passports used to board MH370.
Photo: Takao Chiba / Flickr
Story: The Malay Mail Online
