SOME countries have eased travel advisories for Sabah following strengthened security measures to combat piracy and kidnappings in the state’s waters, says Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan (pic).
He said 25 countries had previously issued travel advisories cautioning their citizens against travelling to Sabah.
“Piracy and kidnappings for ransom were once quite widespread in Sabah waters.
“Some countries had issued a Level 3 warning, which is as good as not travelling to Sabah due to the high risk of kidnapping for ransom,” he said during Question Time.
Mohamad said the Eastern Sabah Security Command was established to address the issue of piracy.
As a result of coordinated enforcement by the police and Defence Ministry, no incidents of kidnapping for ransom or pirate attacks have been reported in eastern Sabah over the past four to five years.
“Many of the 25 countries have since eased their advisories to Level 2. A Level 2 warning means travel is allowed but with caution.
“For land areas along the east coast of Sabah, this is virtually the same as having no travel advisory.”
He was responding to a question from Datuk Verdon Bahanda (Ind-Kudat) on efforts to improve Sabah’s travel advisory status, including advisories issued by the United States, Japan and South Korea.
In a supplementary question, Verdon pointed out that his constituency had been affected by the advisories and asked what measures had been taken to promote tourism and encourage countries to lift the warnings entirely.
In his reply, Mohamad said the enhanced security measures had helped boost tourism in eastern Sabah, particularly in Kudat and Semporna, prompting upgrades to the Tawau and Sandakan airports to accommodate the increasing number of foreign visitors.
He added that the government has briefed the countries involved on the current security situation and even conducts annual visits for foreign diplomatic representatives to witness the improvements firsthand.
