Sarawak needs to monitor the arrival of a certain group into the state and who can cause unwanted problems, said Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg said Wednesday.

"We are talking about the Suluk coming from the east coast of Sabah and who then try to settle somewhere in Miri Division's outskirt areas.

"We must nip this in the bud because if we do not act it can be disastrous for the state," he said.

He told the media this after attending a two-and-a-half hours briefing given by the police led by Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Mazlan Mansor at its headquarters here.

Abang Johari said he had also stressed to the police to help in sustaining the peace, security and harmony, which according to him were the state''s core strength.

He said the overall security of Sarawak was very much under control but there were signs that a new form of crime, the cyber crime was beginning to rear its ugly head.

"We need to look at this new development rationally.

"We must have the knowledge, approach and the technology to prevent it from worsening ," he said.

"When I was in the United Kingdom recently, Her Royal Highness Princess Anne and the Commonwealth Nations secretary-general Baroness Patricia Scotland had identified Kuching city as a training place for Commonwealth Nations'' emerging leaders.

"Kuching City is the only place in Asia to have been chosen and this is something we must appreciate," he said.

Meanwhile on the report that a group of 296 North Koreans who had overstayed in Sarawak and had surrendered themselves to the state Immigration Department, Abang Johari said they were now free to leave the state as the federal government had consented to them doing so.

--BERNAMA