IMMIGRATION Minister Viliame Naupoto has ordered an audit of the Immigration Department’s Border Alert System.
This after the ministry conducted an internal inquiry to find out the circumstances behind the unauthorised departure of Chinese businessman Dickson Peng on May 8.
Mr Naupoto said their investigation found the system had entered Mr Peng’s second Departure Prohibition Order (DPO).
“The investigation found that the Revocation Order (RO) by FRCS dated April 13, 2026, for Mr Peng was applied by a border control officer in Suva to the Departure Prohibition Order (DPO) for Mr Peng dated the same day,” he said.
“This was the only entry under Mr Peng’s name, hence, removing that DPO entry from the Border Alert System.
“The officer in Suva that acted on the RO did not know that it was meant for a different DPO entry.
“That entry was removed earlier by a Border Control Officer in the Nadi office, using the same RO.”
He said the wording of the RO was general and does not specify the specific DPO entry that it was revoking.
“Both the DPO and RO were received and actioned on 14 April.
“DPOs and ROs are emailed by FRCS to both Suva and Nadi Border Control Offices.
“The ministry has no legal power to remove a DPO without a Revocation Order from the issuing authority.”
Mr Naupoto said the ministry concluded that there was no deliberate misconduct by the officers concerned.
“However, the ministry understands that FRCS has reported the matter to FICAC and will await the outcome of that investigation.
“As a lesson learnt from this incident, the ministry has put in place measures to ensure better communication and co-ordination between the Suva and Nadi Border Offices.”
He said the ministry would discuss with FRCS ways in which their Revocation Orders could be improved to avoid the same type of incidents in future.
