Sabah illegals: Get to the root of the problem

Sabahans believe that the proposed RCI on illegal immigrants in the state is a mere whitewash.

COMMENT

The consensus of opinion in Sabah is that nothing dramatic will result from the proposed federal government plans to hold a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illlegal immigrants in the state.

In short, the RCI will be a whitewash job.

Already, Putrajaya has been dropping broad hints that the RCI must not be seen as an opportunity to find fault but rather, and this is putting it simplistically, how to improve procedures at the National Registration Department (NRD) in Sabah.

Left unsaid was the fact that it is not the NRD Sabah that is at fault but the headquarters in Putrajaya which allegedly maintains the full list of illegal immigrants in Sabah who were issued MyKads and had their names entered in the electoral rolls.

Sabahans are generally not interested in getting bogged down by the NRD or MyKads. The NRD is not the be all and end all of the long-festering illegal immigrant menace in the state. They are keener to get to the root of the illegal immigrant phenomenon in the state.

This interest can be expressed in the form of a list of at least 11 key demands which Sabahans want included as part of the terms of reference for the RCI.

The 11 key demands, a preliminary list, were put together in recent days based on views expressed by people from all walks of life including political parties, NGOs and local lawyers.

The first key demand appears to be that the RCI should make it clear that it is a fault-finding, finger-pointing, blame game exercise with no holds barred.

Whistle-blower programme

The second key demand is that the RCI incorporate a whistle-blower programme and such a programme should also cover illegal immigrants/foreign workers/immigrants.

The third demand is that the RCI incorporate a witness protection programme and such a programme should also cover illegal immigrants/foreign workers/immigrants.

The fourth demand is that representatives of the Pakistan, Indian, Bangladesh, Indonesian and Philippine governments in Putrajaya be invited to appear before the RCI and in the event of their failure to do so, the RCI report be presented to them as well for their consideration.

The fifth demand is that the RCI be empowered to summon any other person, persons and/or body or bodies to appear before it, and in the event of their failure to do so, take appropriate and exemplary and punitive action including jail, fine and in default jail and whipping, whipping or all three.

The sixth demand is that the RCI should probe whether the state and federal governments have by administrative action and/or inaction been in defiance of various Acts, Enactments, Ordinances, adat, the state and Federal Constitutions and/or been in contempt of court, on the question of illegal immigrants/foreign workers/immigrants and related issues. If so, how (seventh demand) and why (eighth).

The ninth demand is for the RCI to recommend appropriate action to be taken against wrong-doers in the interest of justice for all.

The 10th key demand is for the RCI to recommend how Sabah can overcome the negative effects of the state and federal governments being in defiance of various Acts, Enactments, Ordinances, adat, the state and Federal Constitutions and/or in contempt of court by way of administrative action and/or inaction on the issue of illegal immigrants/foreign workers/immigrants.

The 11th key demand is for the RCI to recommend what mechanisms including safeguards and checks-and-balances can be put in place to ensure that no state or federal government in future will be in defiance of any Act, Enactment, Ordinance, Adat, the state and Federal Constitutions and/or be in contempt of court on any Issue.

Statutory declaration
The thrust of the key demands, already making the rounds along the political grapevine, is that illegal immigrants have been getting their hands on local birth certificates to circumvent the need to get an entry pass and subsequently run the gauntlet of applying for work permits, temporary residence permits, permanent residence permits, citizenships, and the coveted MyKad and Malaysian passports. They also made into the electoral rolls and were responsible for the addition of five parliamentary seats and 12 states seats in 1994. Sabah has 25 parliamentary seats, excluding Labuan, and 60 state seats.

Foreigners have long obtained local birth certificates under the “late registration of birth” programme by simply making a statutory declaration that they were born somewhere in Sabah. This appears to have been good enough for NRD Putrajaya, but not Sabah, to issue MyKads without batting an eye.

In fact, the National Registration Act and the Sabah Births and Deaths Ordinance make no provision for statutory declarations to be accepted as proof of birth.

These twice born “citizens” can be easily exposed as fakes if they are asked to run through a checklist to verify their village of birth, schools attended, certificates obtained and the like.

Among the “twice born foreigners” are Pakistan-born trader Salman Majid, 50, and Indian-born Mohd Kani Majid, 46, who both made it into the papers, not so long ago, for all the wrong reasons.

Salman was ordered released from a pending deportation order in late 2009 after former Sabah chief minister Harris Salleh testified on his behalf in a Kuala Lumpur court. Harris confirmed that Salman had always been a loyal BN supporter and voted for the coalition.

The court promptly declared Salman a “Malaysian”. It was even revealed in court that Salman, represented by lawyer Karpal Singh, was born in Pakistan, but held a local Sabah birth certificate, besides a MyKad and a Malaysian passport. Salman is now suing the authorities for “compensation”.

Tip of the iceberg

Indian Muslim restaurant keeper Mohd Kani, like Salman, escaped deportation after being held on April 10, 2009, in Kota Kinabalu at the Menggatal detention centre for illegal immigrants. He admitted in court that he was born in India, arrived in Sabah in 1983, and obtained a MyKad in 1993 along with 100 other Indians and Pakistanis in Papar, Sabah.

The Immigration Department allegedly seized his Malaysian passport and tried to force him to apply for an Indian passport while he was in detention but he refused.

Instead, his lawyers P J Perira and Ram Singh wrote to the prime minister on Aug 7, 2009, on his continued detention. On Aug 12, the Attorney-General’s Chambers responded that it had referred the matter to the Legal Affairs Department of the Home Ministry. He was subsequently released.

These two cases are the tip of the proverbial iceberg in Sabah and illustrate the need for the proposed RCI’s terms of reference to incorporate the 11 key demands of Sabahans to move forward on the issue of some 1.85 million foreigners, including illegal immigrants, in the state. Sabahans meanwhile number 1.65 million.