'Putrajaya can keep the illegals in its own backyard'

SABAH RCI If Putrajaya adamantly refuses to act against immigrants illegally granted citizenship in Sabah, it can keep them in peninsular Malaysia where the federal government is based, says SAPP president Yong Teck Lee.

Testifying at the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) on immigrants in Sabah, Yong (right) said this could be done with a Sabah identity card (IC) to identify genuine Sabahans.

"If the federal government insists the illegal immigrants are citizens, so be it. They can stay in the peninsula and be subjected to the laws there.

"If you want to come in to Sabah, you must prove that you are Sabahan (with a Sabah IC)," Yong said.

Describing it as a "self-help" measure, Yong said those born in Sabah on August 31, 1963, and before will be considered genuine Sabahans while the rest must go through an application process for the status of a Sabahan.

This, he said, will ensure that state benefits of the civil service, licenses and land go to genuine Sabahans.

Yong said SAPP had submitted a memorandum to then deputy prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (below) in 1999 and another in 2006 when he became prime minister to resolve the illegal immigrant problem, but to no avail.

The memorandum contained a 17-point proposed solution which included suggestion for concerted deportation of illegal immigrants and the creation of a database to track immigrants in Sabah.

Other measures proposed include demolition of squatters, stopping illegal hawkers, controlling use of utilities by illegal immigrants and regulation of employers.

Furthermore, Yong added that a regularisation programme was needed like the one carried out when he was Sabah chief minister from 1996 to 1998.

"During my time, there were 553,860 foreigners and under the regularisation, we registered 226,565 foreign workers and 187,267 of their dependents and also deported 140,028 people," he said.

'Growing discontent'

However, Yong said he did not know what happened after his tenure as chief minister expired.

He said that the flood of immigrants in Sabah was robbing the locals of opportunities and warned of a "blow back".

"Already we are hearing murmurs of Sabah independence because people are fed up with the failure to uphold the Malaysian agreement.

"Failure (to resolve the immigrant problem) is not an option and the Malaysian government must realise this, (or) there will be a backlash," he said.

He added that in order to resolve the issue, it must be de-politicised, de-racialised and sufficient resources must be allocated by the federal government.