The Home Ministry has been allocated RM19 billion under Budget 2024. This funding is aimed at strengthening national security controls and ensuring the welfare of ministry personnel. Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, the minister of the Home Ministry, stated that this allocation is in line with the ministry’s responsibilities in managing various departments and agencies that ensure public safety and border controls. The ministry functions under 51 Parliamentary Acts with seven main cores, including strengthening security and public order, management of detainees, border control, foreign national management affairs, drug rehabilitation and prevention, empowering communities, industries, and ministry personnel welfare.
The ministry has a significant number of personnel, including 120,000 police personnel, 15,000 immigration department personnel, and around 60,000 People’s Volunteer Corps personnel, among others. According to Saifuddin Nasution, the RM19 billion allocation allows for improvements in various aspects, especially personnel welfare. This statement was made during his appearance on RTM’s Naratif Khas programme titled ‘Post Budget 2024: Strengthening Unity and National Security’ on November 6th.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has increased the allocation to RM19 billion when presenting the Malaysia Madani Budget 2024 on October 13th. This is a RM500 million increase compared to the previous year. Saifuddin Nasution further added that the allocation would enable improvements in land and maritime border controls to combat illegal activities in those areas.
He highlighted the significance of land and sea security measures by stating that land borders span about 4,000 kilometers, while sea borders cover around 590,000 square kilometers. Various illegal activities, such as cigarette smuggling and illegal fishing, occur in these areas, resulting in an estimated annual loss of around RM5 billion. Neglecting or having inefficient land and sea security measures can have a significant impact, which justifies the allocation to the ministry.
