UK to review travel ban on Sabah’s east coast

LONDON (Nov 17): The United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has assured the Sabah Tourism delegation that it will look into the request to lift the travel ban prohibiting British citizens from visiting the east Cmcoast of Sabah.

The travel advisory, which has been issued by the ministerial department for some time now, advises against all but essential travel to all islands and dive sites off Sabah’s east coast, due to kidnapping threats.

Director of South East Asia and Pacific, FCDO, Charles Hay gave the assurance during a courtesy call by the Sabah delegation led by Minister of Tourism Culture and Environment Datuk Seri Christina Liew, at the FCDO here recently.

Liew, who raised the issue during the meeting with Hay, invited the latter to come to Sabah and see for himself the satisfactory level of security in the state.

“Thank you for raising this (lifting of the travel ban). I will look into it. Our travel advice is based on objective assessment and we keep it under continuous review. We will find out where we are in the process and update you,” he told the minister.

Liew informed the director that the UK was among the nine countries that participated in Malaysia’s Home Ministry’s briefing and security survey programme at the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone) at the invitation of Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail in July this year.

The foreign representatives were provided with first-hand experience of the safety measures in place along Sabah’s east coast, particularly within the ESSZone.

Assistant Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment cum chairman of Sabah Tourism Board (STB) Datuk Joniston Bangkuai concurred with the minister that Sabah is a safe place to visit. He said it was crucial for the FCDO to endorse this security statement.

Hay, who served as the British High Commissioner to Malaysia in 2019, took note of the improved security situation in eastern Sabah.

Meanwhile, STB Chief Executive Officer Julinus Jeffery Jimit drew Hay’s attention to the increase in visitor arrivals from UK and Ireland to Sabah from January to August this year compared to last year.

“UK and Ireland recorded 20,140 visitors between January and August this year compared to 18,851 in the same period last year. This marks an increase of 6.8 per cent,” he said.

Also present at the meeting were the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Josie Lai and STB Senior Marketing Manager Josephine Chai.