The Immigration Department will upgrade its database to prevent travellers from using stolen passports, said its deputy director-general (control), Sakib Kusmi.

He said the existing database could not handle the global database of 40.2 million lost passports provided by Interpol.

Although the department does not have the Interpol database, it refers to the police's Interpol database on stolen passport and crime cases, he told reporters after presenting certificates to 70 members of the special tactical group (GTK) who had completed at two-week training at the Saujana Asahan Camp in Jasin, today.

He said however, the Immigration Department regularly update information on stolen passports in its database if it received reports from the countries involved.

Interpol has rebuked the Immigration Department after Home Minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi criticised the technology behind international police agency as "slow" and an obstacle that hindered immigration checks.

Zahid made his comments last Wednesday in Parliament while explaining how two Iranians managed to evade border control checks to board the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 on March 8 using stolen passports.

Meanwhile, Sakib said the Immigration Department would train 2,400 GTK members within five years to tackle riots at detention depots following their effectiveness in Malacca and Negeri Sembilan.

- Bernama