Malaysians are not prohibited from leaving Sabah to go to Peninsular Malaysia or Sarawak during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period, and do not need special permission from the Malaysian Immigration Department in Sabah.

Its director Datuk Dr Muhamad Sade Mohamad Amin said in a statement today that under Immigration regulations during the MCO, Malaysians leaving the state need only undergo regular immigration checks.

“It was recently viral on social media that a passenger at the Tawau Airport was allegedly given permission to travel to the Peninsular with the help of “someone inside”, who is the ‘immigration boss’.

“This claim is untrue and baseless because according to the regulations, all Malaysians are allowed to leave Sabah and do not need special permission from the Immigration (department),” he said.

He said the Sabah Immigration Department had contacted the passenger concerned for an explanation and was informed that he only contacted an immigration officer to ask about permission to go to Peninsular Malaysia and not to use “an inside person” as alleged.

“He apologised for the incident and gave his word that he would delete the statement and photo on social media,” he said.

Muhamad Sade urged the public to be cautious when making a statement on social media so as not to spread fake news which could affect the image of government departments which provide service as frontliners during the MCO period.

On March 16, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced that effective March 18, all Malaysians were prohibited from travelling overseas while tourists and foreign visitors were banned from entering the country.

-- BERNAMA