Immigration says Fahmi Reza free to travel abroad, only banned in Sabah

Summary

• The Immigration Department confirms that graphic artist Fahmi Reza is free to travel overseas and faces only a Sabah entry ban imposed by state authorities, after he was barred from leaving the country last week.

• The department acknowledges conflicting information about Fahmi’s travel status between its Malay and English language portals due to updates to the latter.

• Malaysiakini learns that the confusion relates specifically to Fahmi’s Sabah entry restrictions and did not affect his overseas travel status.

The Immigration Department has moved to clear up confusion surrounding graphic artist Fahmi Reza’s travel restrictions, after the latter was barred from leaving the country last week.

In a statement today, the department confirmed that Fahmi remains free to travel overseas and is only prohibited from entering Sabah under orders from state authorities.

“The department wishes to inform that there are no restrictions preventing the said individual from travelling abroad. However, restrictions on entry to the state of Sabah remain in force under orders from the state authorities.

“The department also acknowledges the confusion that arose following discrepancies in information displayed between the Malay and English language versions of the travel status checking system on the official website. This occurred because the English version of the portal was undergoing updates.

“Therefore, the English version portal has been temporarily closed for the purpose of these updates. The department is conducting internal technical reviews to ensure accuracy and consistency of information displayed in all language versions so as not to cause confusion to users,” the department said.

Upon seeking further clarification, Malaysiakini was informed that the portal confusion related specifically to Fahmi’s Sabah entry restrictions and did not affect his overseas travel status.

‘Which is which?’

This clarification came after Fahmi reported that the Malay version of the website still showed him as banned from travelling abroad, whilst the English version indicated no such restriction.

Despite Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain clarifying that no overseas travel ban has been imposed on Fahmi, the activist yesterday highlighted a peculiarity in his travel status on the Immigration Department’s website.

Yesterday, Fahmi shared on his Facebook page that whilst the English site indicates there are no restrictions, the Malay version states otherwise.

“When I type my identification number on the Malay site, it states ‘Sila rujuk ke pejabat imigresen terdekat’ (Please refer to the nearest Immigration office).

“What is this? Suddenly, there is a restriction,” he said.

Later the same day, Fahmi accessed the English site and typed his identification number, only to be informed that there was no travel restriction imposed.

“The result… no restriction. What’s the story here, Immigration Department? Which is the correct one?” he asked.

Nevertheless, the outspoken activist reminded the Immigration Department that Razarudin has mentioned that there is no official overseas travel restriction imposed on him.

“So, immigration official… please explain this,” he added.

Lawsuit over travel ban

On June 8, Fahmi said he would sue the government after he was prevented from flying to Singapore for a concert the day before.

He accused Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s office and Razarudin of only passing the blame instead of taking responsibility.

“I don’t see anyone in the government taking responsibility for their mistake, which caused my freedom of movement to be restricted.

“You simply said ‘There’s no official restriction’. But the reality was that I was still restricted yesterday (June 7). I still couldn’t leave the country, I was still denied my right as a citizen.

“I am just a regular citizen. You guys restricted me, troubled me, wasted my time and money, and then just washed your hands without admitting guilt,” he said in a statement.

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