Home Ministry developing AI‑based National Border Control System to strengthen surveillance

The Home Ministry in Malaysia is creating an AI-based National Border Control System (SKSN) to enhance surveillance and security efforts along the nation's borders, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Shamsul Anuar Nasarah announced. The SKSN will function as a smart surveillance platform that facilitates real-time data sharing among different enforcement agencies, identifies suspect movement patterns, and accelerates responses in high-risk areas.

This new system is being developed following a feasibility study carried out by the Malaysian Institute of Public Security, which aims to integrate intelligence and surveillance systems through a unified command center. During a Q&A session in the Dewan Rakyat, Shamsul Anuar explained that the SKSN would connect and link information directly among enforcement agencies, bolstering overall security.

In Perlis and along the Malaysia-Thailand border, the SKSN will incorporate AI, smart video technology, drones, thermal sensors, and intelligence databases. The CCTV control room and Video Surveillance System (VSS) at the Padang Besar Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security (ICQS) Complex are already equipped with 42 cameras and 264 lights, covering a 53.3-kilometre section.

The government has also purchased eight Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) drones worth RM26 million, with the procurement of five Mobile Intelligence FTI units valued at RM7 million nearing completion. A RM20 million project is underway to construct a jetty and observation tower with CCTV cameras and drones at Batu Putih Post in Perlis, while existing surveillance systems operated by the police are being upgraded under the Third Rolling Plan of the 13th Malaysia Plan.

So far, 25 illegal crossing routes have been identified in Perlis, with the General Operations Force (GOF) recording RM6.57 million worth of seizures along the state's border in 2025, and RM6.27 million from January to August of the current year.