THERE is no record of missing Pastor Joshua Hilmy leaving the country between 2015 and 2020, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) heard today.

Immigration Department officer Junainh Dalugamin said the last record they had on Joshua was when he had applied for a passport in Penang.

“The passport was valid from November 24, 2015 to November 24, 2020.

“There is no immigration record in the system to show that he used the passport to leave or enter the country,” Junainh told the public inquiry on the disappearance of Joshua and his wife Ruth Sitepu.

Junainh told the inquiry that based on previous immigration checks, Joshua had arrived at Bangunan Sultan Iskandar in Johor on July 23, 2011 but there were no departure details.

“On December 1, 2011 he was recorded at the immigration in Kota Kinabalu airport and Merapok the border of Sabah and Sarawak but there were no departure details in the system.”

She also said that based on their records, he departed from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on December 28, 2011 but there are no records of his return in the system.

Suhakam commissioner Hishamuddin Yunus then questioned Junainh on the entry records.

“Why are there no records? Doesn’t the system track people who exit and enter?”

Junainh said the details presented to Suhakam was the information in their system.

“If he went to Sabah or Sarawak, we have that information. If he returned there would be no record cause we don’t stamp the passport.

“I can’t give the exact situation. Maybe there was a problem with the system or maybe he is using some other documents.

“But I can’t confirm this.”

Hishamuddin then asked if the details of someone who goes to Kota Kinabalu and then to Merapok be recorded.

“There must be records of people going in and out?”

Junainh agreed there should be records of movement but was not familiar with the movements in Sabah and Sarawak.

She added that Malaysians can use their international passport or get a restricted travel document for Sabah and Sarawak.

“The restricted passport is for long-term work or studies. It can be applied at any Immigration Department.”

Junainh also said Joshua was blacklisted by the Inland Revenue Board, effective October 9 last year, and was barred from travelling.

As for Ruth, Junainh said that based on details from her Indonesian passport there were no entry and exit details.

“There is no record in our system.”

Hishamuddin then asked if she entered through unofficial means.

Junainh said she could have used other documents to enter the country.

“She didn’t use this passport to come in or exit the country. She could have come in through unofficial means.”

In 2018, two years after their disappearance, Ruth’s siblings lodged a missing person’s report.

Ruth’s family is from the fishing village of Nambiki in northern Sumatra, Indonesia.

The Suhakam panel is chaired by Hishamuddin and assisted by commissioners Jerald Joseph and Madeline Berma.

Previously, another Suhakam panel, held similar inquiries into the disappearances of Pastor Raymond Koh and activist Amri Che Mat.

After exhaustive investigations, the Suhakam panel concluded that the Special Branch from the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman was responsible for the disappearance of Koh, a Christian pastor, and Amri, a Muslim social activist.

No one has been charged with the abduction of the two.

International human rights laws define enforced disappearance as when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organisation, or by a third party with the authorisation, support or acquiescence of a state or political organisation. – July 6, 2021.