What are the Malaysian immigration procedures for border checks?

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The missing MH370 has raised many disturbing questions about Malaysia's security and how well the country's borders are guarded against terrorism risks. Here's what we have learnt about the standard operating procedures for border checks in Malaysia.

Foreigners entering Malaysia are required to have their fingerprints scanned when they enter the country and when they leave. 
 
An Immigration Department source told us these procedures are followed by the officers at all border checkpoints. The officer, who requested anonymity, told us that if there was a problem with a traveller's passport or if other issues cropped up, the traveller would be escorted to the immigration’s interview room at the check points for further investigation. 

“We will investigate every aspect of a particular case during the interview if we find discrepancies in the travel documents.”
All foreigners go through the same procedures, he said.

We asked him if it was easy for immigration officers to access Interpol's Stolen, Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database to check the validity of passports.  The immigration officer declined to explain, adding that questions related to Interpol's SLTD would be 'jeopardising' current investigations on the stolen passports used by two passengers on missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.   
We then spoke to a source in the Foreign Affairs Ministry to find out how Malaysia dealt with Malaysian passports that are lost or stolen. 

“Lost Malaysian passports are reported to the Immigration Department, accompanied with supporting documents, such as a police report,” said this senior officer who also wanted to remain anonymous.  
But, we were told while immigration cancels the stolen travel document, it does not necessarily share the details of the stolen passport with Interpol.

“The SOP does need to be reviewed,” he said when we asked him for the reason behind this practice.

He said the traveller would be interviewed to determine if he or she was Malaysian, supported by other necessary documents. Wisma Putra then issues an emergency certificate if the person needs to travel.   We asked if the procedures were similar in other countries like Italy and Austria. He said the protocols should be the same.

He did explain that immigration updates their own database with details of the stolen passport and all the data is shared with exit points.

On Sunday, Interpol issued a strongly worded statement to respond to the news of the suspicious passports used in the MH370 flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The international agency said unfortunately few member countries systematically search Interpol's databases to determine whether a passenger is using a stolen or lost travel document to board a plane.

According to Interpol's site, the SLTD database has information on more than 39 million travel documents reported stolen or lost by 166 countries.  It only takes seconds for Interpol agencies and other entities like immigration and border control officers to find out the validity of suspicious travel documents from the database.

“Interpol's database has grown from a few thousand passports and searches to more than 40 million entries and more than 800 million searches per year, averaging 60,000 hits,” it said in the statement.

The agency said the United States use the database more than 250 million times yearly, the United Kingdom over 120 million times and the United Arab Emirates more than 50 million times.

Last November, the Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble announced the agency would be launching the I-Checkit initiative, which allowed airlines to determine against Interpol data if a passport has been reported lost or stolen - even before a ticket is issued.

Under the I-Checkit initiative, the holder of a stolen or lost passport reported in Interpol's database, would not be able to buy a ticket because the passport would have been earlier identified as invalid; for example when trying to open a bank account, rent a car or check into a hotel.

Noble had said the number of people flying across borders is estimated to rise from a billion in 2010 to 1.95 billion by 2025.

“This is why INTERPOL believes that airlines will be first in line to test new and commonsense-based ways to protect us all from the invisible, yet dangerous threats presented by persons carrying stolen passports,” Noble had said at a conference in Qatar.