Refer border control delay to MA63 council, Sabah MP tells Putrajaya

Tuaran MP Wilfred Madius Tangau says the matter requires ‘urgent and comprehensive deliberation’.

Wilfred Madius Tangau accused Putrajaya of disregarding objections raised by Sabah leaders, including federal ministers from the state, over concerns that the Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency could erode Sabah’s immigration autonomy. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA:

A Sabah MP has called for the issue surrounding the postponement of the Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency (AKPS) in Sabah to be immediately referred to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) consultation council.

Tuaran MP Wilfred Madius Tangau said the issue highlighted what he described as Putrajaya’s continued disregard for Sabah’s constitutional rights, and urged Sabah and Sarawak affairs minister Mustapha Sakmud to bring the matter before the council for “urgent and comprehensive deliberation”.

“The minister must publicly update the people of Sabah and Sarawak on the outcome of those deliberations and on the concrete measures that will be taken to prevent further constitutional breaches of this nature,” he said in a statement.

On May 13, Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor said the state government had deferred the agency’s implementation, pending assurances that the state’s special immigration rights and autonomous powers would not be affected.

Hajiji said the state Cabinet had identified possible erosion of Sabah’s constitutional powers under the agency’s legal and operational framework.

He said the state government would not have direct control over AKPS under the proposed structure, as the agency was intended to assume the role currently carried out by the state immigration department at entry points.

Hajiji noted that the state government would only exercise indirect oversight through the Sabah immigration director as provided for under Section 6(3) of the Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency Act 2024 (AKPS Act).

Hajiji also raised concerns over inconsistencies between the AKPS Act and the Immigration Act 1959/63, saying these discrepancies could affect enforcement at Sabah’s entry points.

Tangau said this indicated that the federal government had “once again failed to comply with the constitutional safeguards protecting Sabah and Sarawak under Article 161E of the Federal Constitution”.

He said it reflected a pattern of federal laws affecting Sabah and Sarawak being implemented without the states’ constitutionally required consent, citing the Continental Shelf Act 1966, Fisheries Act 1985, the Territorial Sea Act 2012, and now, the AKPS Act.

“These laws directly affected the rights, jurisdiction and constitutional position of Sabah and Sarawak, yet they were implemented without the consent required under Article 161E of the Federal Constitution.

“This repeated failure to observe constitutional requirements is unacceptable. It undermines the spirit and safeguards embodied in MA63,” he said.

Tangau also accused the federal government of disregarding objections raised by Sabah leaders, including federal ministers from the state, over concerns that AKPS could erode Sabah’s immigration autonomy.

“In the case of AKPS, we were informed that subsidiary legislation would be introduced to safeguard the rights and interests of Sabah and Sarawak. Regrettably, that assurance now appears not to have been fulfilled.

“Article 161E is not symbolic. It is a binding constitutional protection that must be respected and complied with fully and faithfully,” he said. - FMT