I could not act on rumours of illegals getting ICs as I was a civil servant, witness tells RCI

Former Sabah state secretary Tan Sri Simon Sipaun heard numerous rumours about illegal immigrants being issued identity cards and about Project IC but he did not do anything about it as he was then a civil servant.

"There was nothing I could do because as a civil servant, it was either we live with the government policies or get out," he told the Royal Commission of Inquiry into illegal immigrants in Sabah.

 In his lengthy career before retiring in 1994, Sipaun heard rumours of illegal immigrants being issued identity cards, which he said is grossly unfair to the natives.

"After I retired, I began to do many things which I couldn't when I was in the civil service. As vice-chairman of the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), I organised a roundtable discussion in Kota Kinabalu to raise awareness about illegal immigrants being issued identity cards.

"I visited detention centres and met illegal immigrants who told me that their identity cards were useless to them except during the general election, when allowed to vote," he said.

Sipaun recalled illegal immigrants going to Suhakam complaining that even though they had Malaysian ICs, their family members were not issued the document.

Sipaun, who is also a member of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission advisory board, said the immigrants told him they obtained the identity cards through Project IC.

"The government is not doing enough to tackle the issue of illegal immigrants. They are forever using the excuse of the porous borders, but Sarawak also has a vast border and coastline and yet they do not face the same problem," he told the five-men RCI panel, led by former Sabah and Sarawak Chief Justice Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong.