'Pakistani and Indian citizens became instant Malaysians'

The royal commission of inquiry (RCI) on immigrants in Sabah today heard how two men who arrived in Malaysia as Pakistani and Indian nationals were granted citizenship in a matter of years.

Taking the stand today was Mohamed Hussein, a Pashtun Pakistani, who in 1987 flew to Kuala Lumpur from Karachi using a Pakistani passport.

He subsequently flew to Kota Kinabalu before settling down in Tawau.

“In 1988, a Pakistani man accompanied by a few Malaysian men approached me and offered me Malaysian documentation,” Mohamed told the inquiry in the Kota Kinabalu High Court complex.

The condition, he said, was that he must intent to stay in Malaysia and must become a voter, though he was not told for which party to vote.

“They brought me to the National Registration Department, filled in the forms for me - as I could not read and write - then took my thumbprint and signature,” Mohamed said.

He then surrendered his Pakistani passport and received a temporary identification receipt.

He received his blue identity card in 1989, some two years after arriving in Malaysia, and became a voter in Tawau and later in Papar.

Mohamed, who replied to questions in basic Malay, said he later applied for a Malaysian passport and had returned to Pakistan four to five times using the document.

[More to follow]