'Worst ever' autogate glitch at Malaysia's major checkpoints strands thousands of Singaporean, foreign travelers

The breakdown, which began around noon on July 18, was described as "the worst ever," according to The Straits Times. The issue affected more than 200 autogates, automated passport control systems used for faster immigration clearance, but Malaysian passport holders were unaffected.

Among the key locations impacted were Kuala Lumpur International Airport terminals 1 and 2, and the Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine complexes at Bagunan Sultan Iskandar (BSI) and Kompleks Sultan Abu Bakar (KSAB).

Sarena Yong, a Facebook user, reported that the autogate system had been down for foreign passport holders since the evening of July 18, according to Channel News Asia.

Many Singaporean and foreign travelers stranded at a Malaysia's immigration entry point. Photo from Facebook

Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) issued a statement on July 19 warning of delays for those traveling to Malaysia via land checkpoints. The ICA advised travelers at the checkpoints to approach officers for assistance if they needed to turn back.

Chelsea Teh, 25, an education sector worker, told The Straits Times she had waited for an hour and a half in the queue at BSI. She described the area as "stuffy and poorly ventilated," adding that some people opted to leave the queue and return to Singapore.

Malaysia's Border Control and Protection Agency announced on July 19 that all manual counters had been activated and extra personnel deployed to manage the flow of visitors, New Straits Times reported. Preliminary investigations pointed to a data integration failure that slowed the cross-verification process.

A security official told The Star that the cause of the failure was still under investigation, including whether there had been any element of sabotage or hacking. The official added that at BSI, tens of thousands of people, primarily Singaporeans, had waited for over four hours to clear immigration. "Weekends are a busy period and immigration officers have been told to open all lanes to clear the passports manually," the official said, noting that there are 39 autogates for exit and 29 for entry.

Johor Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi expressed disappointment over the disruption in a Facebook post, calling the 24-hour system failure a significant cause of congestion. He said that he had visited BSI unannounced and urged immediate action to prevent a recurrence.

Since June 1, 2024, visitors from 63 countries, including Singapore, have been eligible to use Malaysia's autogate for immigration clearance. According to Malay Mail, Malaysia currently operates 1,568 automatic passport scanning machines at its checkpoints.

This incident follows a similar malfunction in December 2023 when hundreds of travelers were stranded for hours after the autogate and QR code scanning system at BSI failed due to a faulty network core switch, as reported by The Star.