No information on two Uighur men entering Malaysia so far

The Immigration Department has not received any information regarding two Turkish men of Uighur ethnicity suspected of plotting terrorist attacks in Thailand entering the country, after they fled Thailand at the end of March.

Its director-general Datuk Sakib Kusmi said the department was always on the alert and would have detected them if they had entered via any checkpoints, but there were no traces so far.

"However, if the two men came in through an ungazetted route, it would require the cooperation of the relevant security agencies to detect their presence," he told Bernama here, today.

He said the department had been notified of the two men, and always took precautions and carried out stringent checks, especially in relation to travel documents at the border.

The Governor of Surat Thani, Thailand, Wongsiri Promchana told Bernama yesterday that based on information received from the Phuket Immigration Office, the two men were allegedly heading to Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the police had yet to receive information indicating the two men had entered the country through a legal route.

Hence, he said the police had intensified surveillance on illegal routes at national borders to detect both the individuals.

"There is no evidence they have entered through the legal route, but we're extending surveillance along the illegal route," he told Bernama via WhatsApp today.

At the end of last year, two ethnic Uighurs of Chinese nationality were detained, after being involved with the bombing incident at a temple in Thailand's capital, which killed 20 people.