Residents at the Malaysia-Indonesia border in Pulau Sebatik should be resettled according to their citizenship, said Kalabakan MP Andi Suryady Bandy.
He told Malaysiakini that this is so that their respective citizenship status can be maintained.
"Regarding the option to apply for or change citizenship, I think this matter is still under discussion and has not been fully finalised.
"I believe the Home Ministry, especially the National Registration Department, which manages citizenship applications, can cooperate with the Indonesian government in matters related to citizenship," he said.
Last week, Indonesian media reported that Malaysia had ceded over thousands of hectares of its land as compensation for “gaining” three villages - Kampung Kabulangalor, Kampung Lepaga, and Kampung Tetagas - in Pulau Sebatik, along the Sabah-Kalimantan border.
For comparison, the land area granted is much larger than Putrajaya, which has an area of 4,931ha.
According to the republic’s investigative news organisation Tempo, Indonesian National Border Management Agency secretary Makhruzi Rahman said this followed a territorial settlement agreement in which the border line was shifted.
Pulau Sebatik is located to the southwest of Tawau in Sabah. According to Google Maps, the northern half of the island is in Malaysia, while the southern half belongs to Indonesia.
Dual citizenship not allowed
A report from the Daily Express earlier today quoted Andi as saying that residents of the affected villages have been given the option to either apply for Malaysian citizenship or remain Indonesian citizens.
“This is because Malaysian law does not allow dual citizenship. The decision rests entirely with the residents concerned, subject to the prescribed procedures,” he said.
He added that the border demarcation was carried out with mutual consent over the use of technological facilities.
"Under the new boundary agreement, Malaysia now only retains jetty facilities in the area of Sungai Haji Kuning, as well as in several other locations, such as Sungai Melayu and Serudong," he said.
Andi said a clearly defined boundary is essential to develop areas belonging to Malaysia, while also strengthening security control along the Malaysia-Indonesia border.
He expressed hope that the construction of three new control posts announced in this year’s budget would be implemented swiftly to further enhance border security.
“This is particularly important in combating the smuggling of gas and controlled goods, which continues to occur despite various initiatives taken previously, especially as there are still Malaysians on Pulau Sebatik facing issues of insufficient gas cylinder supply,” he said.
‘Inaccurate’ report
After news of the border demarcation exercise broke, Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Arthur Joseph Kurup disputed reports claiming that Malaysia’s move to hand over its land was a form of “compensation” for the three villages.
While he labelled reports suggesting Malaysia ceded 5,207ha of territory as “inaccurate”, the minister’s statement, however, did not address the extent of the territorial changes following the border settlement.
Opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin had urged Putrajaya to uphold the principle of transparency in matters involving national sovereignty, stressing that any such agreements should be discussed in Parliament first.
However, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim refused to entertain this, insisting that there was “no need” for it to be clarified in Parliament.
He instead lashed out at the opposition, accusing them of spreading “lies” in their comments on the issue. - Mkini
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