Stop destroying ICs of Suluks, pleads ex-Sabah CM

Former Sabah chief minister Harris Salleh has appealed to the police to cease action against the Suluk community in Lahad Datu and Semporna.

Haris, who is now president of Yayasan Islam Sabah, was reported as claiming that Suluk community leaders have urged him to make this appeal, and has written a letter to Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein on the matter.

"Suluk leaders have reported that police are taking identity cards, and IMM13 documents (of the Suluk people) and destroying them.

"This is unbecoming of the Malaysian police force. This behaviour is against any known civilisation, and the religions, laws and policies of the Malaysian government," he was quoted as saying in the Sabah-based daily Daily Express.

Harris (left) pointed out that the police have no powers to destroy federal government documents except with confirmation from the National Registration Department, and doing so would only breed animosity between Sabah and the Sulu people.

In addition, he reportedly pointed out that Suluks are also human beings and not all have ill-intentions, unlike the self-proclaimed ‘royal Sulu army' hiding in Lahad Datu.

On March 9, the Philippine-based online news portal Philippine Inquirer carried a report claiming that hundreds of Filipinos are fleeing police crackdowns in Sabah, which involved destroying legitimate identity documents.