Lawmakers complain about entry bans as internal security amendment approved

The Legislative Assembly (AL) has passed the internal security bill after Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak brought the bill to the AL for voting on Friday.
The most notable amendment removed the classification of “militarized force and security department” and renamed it as, “public organizations forming internal security system.”
The other amendments mostly consisted of technical changes made to the names.
One amendment suggests that public organizations of the internal security system, under the supervision of the Secretary for Security, will be integrated as part of the security force.
Lawmaker Sulu Sou questioned Wong on the banning of entry for certain people, such as journalists and activists from neighboring Hong Kong.
“This law has been implemented for many years and it involves an entry ban […] and it has drawn international attention many times,” said Sou, who wanted the security authority to explain why it refuses the entry of certain people.
In recent years, the Macau immigration authority has rejected some individuals’ entry to Macau on the grounds that they were “unwelcome” or “posed a threat to internal security,” Sou remarked.
“What effect did it have? […] What are the exact reasons? You don’t let them come in [by saying that] they are not welcome, or they pose a threat to internal security. This is not an explicit reason,” said Sou.
In his reply to Sou, the Secretary mentioned that the security force does not consider it necessary to amend the entire internal security law.
“The whole world has entry ban policies, including the European Union and Portugal. Our system is the same as theirs,” said Wong.
Wong explained that the police authority has the autonomy to evaluate and decide when to refuse entry.
After the bill was passed, lawmaker Au Kam San remarked that “the internal security law has been abused by the police force to ban tourists and the law has damaged Macau’s image.”