COMMENT According to figures released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there were 65,000 refugees in Sabah who had fled the conflict in the southern Philippines.
By the late 1990s, these refugees were granted permanent resident (PR) status. Nazri Abdul Aziz once said, as the federal minister in charge of law, that the Filipino refugees would be accorded refugees status and identification documents, known as IMM13, for as long as the conflict in their country of origin prevailed.
Today, the latest figures released by UNHCR show that some 750,000 people have been given refugee status and made permanent residents in Sabah.
Countless numbers of others are being processed. From 2007 onwards, the federal government, with the concurrence of the Sabah government, approved PR status for these refugees. Hence, they were no longer required to renew their IMM13 documents annually.
I had, on numerous occasions, warned the government through my public statements and speeches in Parliament over the following threats posed to Sabah due to the presence of the ever-increasing numbers of illegal immigrants and the issuance of MyKad to foreigners.
PBS leader Chong Eng Leong (left) in 2009 also explained the danger on security and sovereignty of Sabah, not mentioning the numerous personal reports and complaints delivered to the authorities by Jeffrey Kitingan pertaining to the “time bomb” threat of the illegal immigrants in Sabah. However, all these expose fell on deaf ears.
Individually, I concur with those writers and persons mentioned above over the grave danger posed by the unchecked illegal immigrants flooding into Sabah. I am very concerned about these factors:
i. The giving of MyKad to foreigners under dubious means and circumstances is against the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement of 1963 and the federal constitution and while the authorities were carrying out this exercise, other genuine Sabahans who had yet to get their MyKad were deprived of the same privilege.
ii. The presence of foreigners in our midst contributed to the increase in crime rate in major towns and urban areas in Sabah.
iii. The loyalty of these new ‘citizens’ is questionable in view of the Sabah claim of the Philippines government. This claim was made upon the request of the Sulu sultanate, saying that part of Sabah is under the Sultanate of Sulu and that many of its citizens are already in Sabah.
iv. These new citizens are already in our midst, in our school systems as students, teachers, tutors and lecturers; lorry drivers, mini bus owners and drivers, fish mongers and vegetable sellers. They are also occupying government positions which should have been held by our sons and daughters.
They could later on put up their own candidates and win elections and rule the state. This may be a long-shot statement, but with 640,964 people categorised as ‘other bumiputera’ and another 867,190 waiting on line, this scenario will not be impossible.
v. I have warned the government that the Indigenous Sabahans could end up being refugees in their own land.
With this in mind, I prepared a memorandum dated Dec 14, 2010, and submitted it to the Home Ministry urging the government to nullify all MyKad issued under dubious circumstances.
The result was hopeless. Finally, even with the setting up of the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) on the matter, I remained sceptical based on the fact that the terms of reference given to the members of the RCI were merely investigative in nature. The effectiveness of the RCI set up by Umno is yet to be seen.
Memorandum to cancel Project IC
On Oct 21-23, 1996, the Silam Umno division, on behalf of the National Registration Department (NRD), organised a massive exercise to get some 10,211 Silam Umno members to change their old blue identity cards (IC) to the new high quality ICs (Kad Pengenalan Bermutu Tinggi - KPT).
After three days, 10,031 could not replace their ICs as they were found to be false, cloned or belonged to someone else. Only 180 were able to get their ICs changed as local Sabahans.
On May 21, 1996, the NRD issued a circular to all the NRD division directors and state directors informing them that there were 16,696 ICs issued and classified as ‘tidak di-iktiraf’ (not valid) by the department. The reference number of the circular was JPNKP(S):H/163/2/1(49) and it was signed by Wan Md Ariffin Wan Ismail.
Foreigners with Malaysian ICs and registered as voters
Table 3 is a list of 71,113 foreigners having Malaysian ICs and registered as voters. This record might just be a tip of the iceberg of the activities involved in Project IC.
Threading the path of the formation of Malaysia, it is invigourating to note several important statements raised by Donald Stephens, Tunku Abdul Rahman and Lord Cobbold pertaining to the position of Sabah in the Federation of Malaysia. Some of them are recited below.
Donald Stephens:
An important statement by Donald Stephens (who became Fuad Stephens and the first chief minister of Sabah) was recorded as follows:
“We reject to join Malaysia as an individual state, we want the Borneo Territories to be united first so that we can negotiate with the Federation of Malaya as equal partners and not under their rule... because if we join now, those who come to take up most of the high positions are people from the Federation of Malaya... that is neo-colonialism...”
(Published in Straits Times, before the formation of Malaysia).
Tunku Abdul Rahman:
A speedy word of assurance from the Tunku, the prime minister of Malaya and later, the first prime minister of Malaysia was as given below:
“The days of colonialism are over and it is not the intention of the Federation of Malaya to perpetuate colonialism, when the Borneo Territories become part of Malaysia. It will not be colonised but become equal partners.” (Straits Times, Oct 2, 1962).
Lord Cobbold:
Meanwhile, Lord Cobbold, chairperson of the Cobbold Commission, recommended in the following manner:
“It is a necessary condition that from the outset Malaysia should be regarded by all concerned as an association of partners, combining in the common interests to create a new nation but retaining their own individualities. If any idea were to take root that Malaysia would involve a ‘take-over’ of the Borneo Territories by the Federation of Malaya and the submersion of the individualities of North Borneo and Sarawak, Malaysia would not be generally acceptable and successful.”
Lord Cobbold also emphasised: “Sabah and Sarawak shall become equal partners with the other states in the Federation of Malaya; NOT as one of the components of the States as stated in Article 1 of the Original Federal Constitution - thereby having the political and financial autonomy.”
Article 1 of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 states: The colonies of North Borneo and Sarawak and the state of Singapore shall be federated with the existing states of the Federation of Malaya as the states of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore in accordance with the constitutional instruments annexed to this Agreement and the Federation shall thereafter be called “Malaysia”.
Social problems related to illegal immigrants
Some major adverse impacts attributed to the presence of illegal immigrants in Sabah are as follows:
i. Crime: From 2006 to 2012, the four prisons in Sabah showed higher numbers of non-Malaysian prisoners than Malaysians. A total of RM604,080,840 were spent on non-Malaysian prisoners during the period, which covered for food, medication and treatment, shelter, clothing, electricity, water, reformation, etc. (Source: Daily Express, March 16, 2013).
ii. Instability and threats to society. Increase in criminal cases, mostly committed by the illegal immigrants and their associates, include kidnapping (e.g. Sipadan Island, off Semporna... a 29-year old Chinese tourist was held for RM36.4 million ransom by the Abu Syyaf); arms smuggling, the Tanduo case (intrusion from Southern Philippines with internal collaboration); rapes and death of victims (e.g. Norikoh Saliwa, Norjan Khan, etc).
These are but a few examples of committed crimes I give here.
iii. Illegal immigrants on health resources and diseases. Illegal immigrants constitute 30 percent of outpatients receiving treatment in government-run health clinics or town areas. In districts like Semporna, 70 percent of the outpatients are illegal immigrants. In May 2013, the RCI was told that the government spent RM21.7 million for the past six years on healthcare for foreigners in Sabah, who did not pay for their treatment.
There was also an increase in communicative diseases, such as malaria and skin diseases.
iv. Cases of tuberculosis in Sabah are attributed to illegal immigrants. (Source: Daily Express, Nov 14, 2013).
Government and politics
Pertinent issues related to improper government administration and politics are:
i. Approving Sabah Native Status to illegal immigrants: Creating a ‘new bumiputera’ through social restructuring based on racial and religious grounds by issuing the Sabah Native Status to illegal immigrants. This allows them to apply for state land. There were also several cases of land grabbing from the real natives of Sabah, as in cases in Kalabakan and Kinabatangan areas.
ii. “Malaynising” the natives in Sabah: Recently, the Sabah mufti suggested to “Malaynise’ (Memelayukan) the Kadazandusun community. Before that, a similar statement was voiced by the former chief minister of Malacca, Mohd Ali Rustam (left). This is tantamount to eliminating the Sabah natives of their race, religion and culture.
iii. Gerrymandering - under the new electoral boundaries in Sabah, Umno is now in solid control of more than 50 percent of both the parliamentary and state constituencies in Sabah - 13 of the 25 parliamentary constituencies and 32 of the 60 state constituencies. Further, Umno is hard at work infiltrating the remaining non-Umno controlled seats in Sabah, particularly the native-based areas.
Recommendations
Based on the foregoing discussions, I would like to propose the following recommendations, to at least alleviate the teething problems related to my arguments in this Part 2 article:
i. A comprehensive review of the Malaysia Agreement, vis-à-vis the original reports and recommendations by the Cobbold Commission, IGC and 20-Point Memorandum;
ii. Review of the implementation of the Constitution of Malaysia in reference to the special positions and safeguards for the natives Sabah and Sarawak;
iii. Recall all ICs given to the illegal immigrants;
iv. Clean the electoral role of dubious registered voters;
v. Stop any form of neo-colonialism elements at all levels. Restore and implement the original intention of forming the Federation of Malaysia; i.e., Sabah & Sarawak shall become equal partners with the other states in the Federation of Malaya; NOT as one of the components of the states; and
vi. Immigrants in Sabah to be issued a standard pass or identification document to avoid confusion on their status (as suggested by the NRD director Ismail Ahmad - The Borneo Post, July 5, 2013).
This article is drawn from Bumburing's paper, ‘The Impact of Systematic Demographic Engineering of the Communities in Sabah, 1960-2013', which was presented at the ‘Forum on Malaysia Agreement 1963’ at Radius Hotel in Kuala Lumpur on June 15, 2014. The forum was organised by the Sarawak Association for Peoples’ Aspiration (Sapa).
WILFRED M BUMBURING is president of Angkatan Perubahan Sabah (APS) and assemblyperson for the seat of Tamparuli in Sabah.
By the late 1990s, these refugees were granted permanent resident (PR) status. Nazri Abdul Aziz once said, as the federal minister in charge of law, that the Filipino refugees would be accorded refugees status and identification documents, known as IMM13, for as long as the conflict in their country of origin prevailed.
Today, the latest figures released by UNHCR show that some 750,000 people have been given refugee status and made permanent residents in Sabah.
Countless numbers of others are being processed. From 2007 onwards, the federal government, with the concurrence of the Sabah government, approved PR status for these refugees. Hence, they were no longer required to renew their IMM13 documents annually.
I had, on numerous occasions, warned the government through my public statements and speeches in Parliament over the following threats posed to Sabah due to the presence of the ever-increasing numbers of illegal immigrants and the issuance of MyKad to foreigners.PBS leader Chong Eng Leong (left) in 2009 also explained the danger on security and sovereignty of Sabah, not mentioning the numerous personal reports and complaints delivered to the authorities by Jeffrey Kitingan pertaining to the “time bomb” threat of the illegal immigrants in Sabah. However, all these expose fell on deaf ears.
Individually, I concur with those writers and persons mentioned above over the grave danger posed by the unchecked illegal immigrants flooding into Sabah. I am very concerned about these factors:
i. The giving of MyKad to foreigners under dubious means and circumstances is against the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement of 1963 and the federal constitution and while the authorities were carrying out this exercise, other genuine Sabahans who had yet to get their MyKad were deprived of the same privilege.
ii. The presence of foreigners in our midst contributed to the increase in crime rate in major towns and urban areas in Sabah.
iii. The loyalty of these new ‘citizens’ is questionable in view of the Sabah claim of the Philippines government. This claim was made upon the request of the Sulu sultanate, saying that part of Sabah is under the Sultanate of Sulu and that many of its citizens are already in Sabah.iv. These new citizens are already in our midst, in our school systems as students, teachers, tutors and lecturers; lorry drivers, mini bus owners and drivers, fish mongers and vegetable sellers. They are also occupying government positions which should have been held by our sons and daughters.
They could later on put up their own candidates and win elections and rule the state. This may be a long-shot statement, but with 640,964 people categorised as ‘other bumiputera’ and another 867,190 waiting on line, this scenario will not be impossible.
v. I have warned the government that the Indigenous Sabahans could end up being refugees in their own land.
With this in mind, I prepared a memorandum dated Dec 14, 2010, and submitted it to the Home Ministry urging the government to nullify all MyKad issued under dubious circumstances.
The result was hopeless. Finally, even with the setting up of the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) on the matter, I remained sceptical based on the fact that the terms of reference given to the members of the RCI were merely investigative in nature. The effectiveness of the RCI set up by Umno is yet to be seen.
Memorandum to cancel Project IC
On Oct 21-23, 1996, the Silam Umno division, on behalf of the National Registration Department (NRD), organised a massive exercise to get some 10,211 Silam Umno members to change their old blue identity cards (IC) to the new high quality ICs (Kad Pengenalan Bermutu Tinggi - KPT).
After three days, 10,031 could not replace their ICs as they were found to be false, cloned or belonged to someone else. Only 180 were able to get their ICs changed as local Sabahans.
On May 21, 1996, the NRD issued a circular to all the NRD division directors and state directors informing them that there were 16,696 ICs issued and classified as ‘tidak di-iktiraf’ (not valid) by the department. The reference number of the circular was JPNKP(S):H/163/2/1(49) and it was signed by Wan Md Ariffin Wan Ismail.
Foreigners with Malaysian ICs and registered as voters
Table 3 is a list of 71,113 foreigners having Malaysian ICs and registered as voters. This record might just be a tip of the iceberg of the activities involved in Project IC.Threading the path of the formation of Malaysia, it is invigourating to note several important statements raised by Donald Stephens, Tunku Abdul Rahman and Lord Cobbold pertaining to the position of Sabah in the Federation of Malaysia. Some of them are recited below.Donald Stephens:
An important statement by Donald Stephens (who became Fuad Stephens and the first chief minister of Sabah) was recorded as follows:
“We reject to join Malaysia as an individual state, we want the Borneo Territories to be united first so that we can negotiate with the Federation of Malaya as equal partners and not under their rule... because if we join now, those who come to take up most of the high positions are people from the Federation of Malaya... that is neo-colonialism...”
(Published in Straits Times, before the formation of Malaysia).
Tunku Abdul Rahman:
A speedy word of assurance from the Tunku, the prime minister of Malaya and later, the first prime minister of Malaysia was as given below:
“The days of colonialism are over and it is not the intention of the Federation of Malaya to perpetuate colonialism, when the Borneo Territories become part of Malaysia. It will not be colonised but become equal partners.” (Straits Times, Oct 2, 1962).
Lord Cobbold:
Meanwhile, Lord Cobbold, chairperson of the Cobbold Commission, recommended in the following manner:
“It is a necessary condition that from the outset Malaysia should be regarded by all concerned as an association of partners, combining in the common interests to create a new nation but retaining their own individualities. If any idea were to take root that Malaysia would involve a ‘take-over’ of the Borneo Territories by the Federation of Malaya and the submersion of the individualities of North Borneo and Sarawak, Malaysia would not be generally acceptable and successful.”Lord Cobbold also emphasised: “Sabah and Sarawak shall become equal partners with the other states in the Federation of Malaya; NOT as one of the components of the States as stated in Article 1 of the Original Federal Constitution - thereby having the political and financial autonomy.”
Article 1 of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 states: The colonies of North Borneo and Sarawak and the state of Singapore shall be federated with the existing states of the Federation of Malaya as the states of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore in accordance with the constitutional instruments annexed to this Agreement and the Federation shall thereafter be called “Malaysia”.
Social problems related to illegal immigrants
Some major adverse impacts attributed to the presence of illegal immigrants in Sabah are as follows:
i. Crime: From 2006 to 2012, the four prisons in Sabah showed higher numbers of non-Malaysian prisoners than Malaysians. A total of RM604,080,840 were spent on non-Malaysian prisoners during the period, which covered for food, medication and treatment, shelter, clothing, electricity, water, reformation, etc. (Source: Daily Express, March 16, 2013).
ii. Instability and threats to society. Increase in criminal cases, mostly committed by the illegal immigrants and their associates, include kidnapping (e.g. Sipadan Island, off Semporna... a 29-year old Chinese tourist was held for RM36.4 million ransom by the Abu Syyaf); arms smuggling, the Tanduo case (intrusion from Southern Philippines with internal collaboration); rapes and death of victims (e.g. Norikoh Saliwa, Norjan Khan, etc).These are but a few examples of committed crimes I give here.
iii. Illegal immigrants on health resources and diseases. Illegal immigrants constitute 30 percent of outpatients receiving treatment in government-run health clinics or town areas. In districts like Semporna, 70 percent of the outpatients are illegal immigrants. In May 2013, the RCI was told that the government spent RM21.7 million for the past six years on healthcare for foreigners in Sabah, who did not pay for their treatment.
There was also an increase in communicative diseases, such as malaria and skin diseases.
iv. Cases of tuberculosis in Sabah are attributed to illegal immigrants. (Source: Daily Express, Nov 14, 2013).
Government and politics
Pertinent issues related to improper government administration and politics are:
i. Approving Sabah Native Status to illegal immigrants: Creating a ‘new bumiputera’ through social restructuring based on racial and religious grounds by issuing the Sabah Native Status to illegal immigrants. This allows them to apply for state land. There were also several cases of land grabbing from the real natives of Sabah, as in cases in Kalabakan and Kinabatangan areas.
ii. “Malaynising” the natives in Sabah: Recently, the Sabah mufti suggested to “Malaynise’ (Memelayukan) the Kadazandusun community. Before that, a similar statement was voiced by the former chief minister of Malacca, Mohd Ali Rustam (left). This is tantamount to eliminating the Sabah natives of their race, religion and culture.iii. Gerrymandering - under the new electoral boundaries in Sabah, Umno is now in solid control of more than 50 percent of both the parliamentary and state constituencies in Sabah - 13 of the 25 parliamentary constituencies and 32 of the 60 state constituencies. Further, Umno is hard at work infiltrating the remaining non-Umno controlled seats in Sabah, particularly the native-based areas.
Recommendations
Based on the foregoing discussions, I would like to propose the following recommendations, to at least alleviate the teething problems related to my arguments in this Part 2 article:
i. A comprehensive review of the Malaysia Agreement, vis-à-vis the original reports and recommendations by the Cobbold Commission, IGC and 20-Point Memorandum;
ii. Review of the implementation of the Constitution of Malaysia in reference to the special positions and safeguards for the natives Sabah and Sarawak;
iii. Recall all ICs given to the illegal immigrants;
iv. Clean the electoral role of dubious registered voters;v. Stop any form of neo-colonialism elements at all levels. Restore and implement the original intention of forming the Federation of Malaysia; i.e., Sabah & Sarawak shall become equal partners with the other states in the Federation of Malaya; NOT as one of the components of the states; and
vi. Immigrants in Sabah to be issued a standard pass or identification document to avoid confusion on their status (as suggested by the NRD director Ismail Ahmad - The Borneo Post, July 5, 2013).
This article is drawn from Bumburing's paper, ‘The Impact of Systematic Demographic Engineering of the Communities in Sabah, 1960-2013', which was presented at the ‘Forum on Malaysia Agreement 1963’ at Radius Hotel in Kuala Lumpur on June 15, 2014. The forum was organised by the Sarawak Association for Peoples’ Aspiration (Sapa).
WILFRED M BUMBURING is president of Angkatan Perubahan Sabah (APS) and assemblyperson for the seat of Tamparuli in Sabah.
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