KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 — The award of 'overnight citizenship' to Sabah's illegal immigrants may cost the Najib administration dearly at the ballot box if it is not resolved before the 13th general elections, a federal minister has told Singapore's Sunday Times (ST).
Sabahans have become more unhappy at the federal government's seemingly speedy approval of citizenship to Muslim immigrants, many who are believed to enter the country illegally, seeing the newcomers as a threat, Tan Sri Bernard Dompok told the Singapore paper in an interview published today.
"It's unprecedented. Generally, Sabahans have no problem with migrants, provided they come through the front door, and if they want to apply for citizenship, do it in the proper manner.'They can't expect to get citizenship overnight. There must be value to citizenship," he was quoted as saying.
He urged the federal government to take swift action on Sabah's illegal immigration issue before the next national polls, which must be called by next April.
Dompok told the Singapore paper the citizenship award for illegal immigrants has become an emotional issue for the state's voters.
The thorny issue has caused much concern, with Sabah politicians from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition pushing for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI), while the federal government appeared to have dragged its feet in resolving the matter.
Dompok told ST that many in Sabah think the "integrity of the system has been compromised".
"My party has made known our stand. My head is on the chopping board as far as this issue is concerned," said the president of United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko), a BN component party in Sabah.
According to The Sunday Times, Upko has pressed for investigations on fears that citizenship is granted to Muslim immigrants "overnight" if they agree to vote for BN.
Dompok had reportedly said last year that the size of the non-Muslim natives and Muslim Bumiputeras were about equal in 1960, but noted that the latter group had doubled in 2000 and was now nearly twice the population of non-Muslim native Sabahans.
Sabah has experienced a population explosion over the years. Lawmakers in Parliament were told last year that the state population, which numbered just over 650,000 in 1970 grew to more than 920,000 in 1980.
Within the next two decades, the state grew by 1.5 million people to reach over 2.4 million in 2000.
Media reports noted that Sabah's population reached 3.12 million in 2010, with foreigners accounting for a substantial 27 per cent of that figure.
The Singapore paper reported that Sabah's population is now one-third larger than neighbouring Sarawak, Malaysia's largest state by area size.
Although Sabah is traditionally viewed as a safe vote bank for BN, failure by the ruling government to address this issue may cost it crucial votes that will enable it to stay on in power.
Urban voters in Sabah had expressed their desire for an RCI on the immigrants issue in a survey carried out by independent pollster Merdeka Centre last May.
Last month, the federal government told Parliament that it was in the final stages of drawing up the RCI's terms of references but there does not seem to have been any further news of the promised RCI since then.
hope the process of preparing the terms of reference for the RCI is ready
ReplyDeletehope RCI is not just another political gimmick...
ReplyDeletelagipun, penubuhan RCI adalah permintaan rakyat
ReplyDeleteBetul..Itu bukannya saja permintaan rakyat tapi ini satu usaha yang baik untuk menyiasat perkara yang berkaitan dengan projek IC yang berlaku sebelum ini.
DeleteAleady stated clearly the correct procedure would be for Putrajaya to issue citizenships to permanent residents in Sabah only upon recommendation by the Sabah state government.
ReplyDeleteThe RCI should also probe the extent of political interference in dealing with the illegal immigrant phenomenon in Sabah.
ReplyDeleteisu pati tk pernah selesai.. RCI yang dijanjikan masih lagi dalam proses penetapan terma dan rujukan.
ReplyDeleteNo RCI, no GE!
ReplyDeleteIt is hoped that the government can readily RCI
Deletegovernment tried to solve the problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah
ReplyDeleteada RCI sudah ba.. apa mau kecoh2 lagi.. tunggu saja la selepas RCI dilancarkan, kalau masalah ini masih belu selesai, baru bangkitkan..
ReplyDeleteWith the hard life of Muslim Filipinos in the Southern Philippines, including terrorism, lack of governmental support, unemployment, and other internal issues, many feel a desperate necessity to find a better life or safety elsewhere. Sabah in Malaysia, being only an hour away by boat ride from major ports in the southern Philippines, has become a favored destination for Filipino refugees. Malaysia being a Muslim country, and unable to reject the urgent needs of fellow Muslims, has no choice but to allow refugees from the Philippines to enter Sabah.
ReplyDeleteThese refugees are granted temporary amnesty while in the country. With an increasing number of Filipino nationals settling in the Sabah region, more and more of their relatives and friends have come to join them. Filipino flea markets, traders, and goods have begun to mushroom all over Sabah to cater to the needs of Filipino expats there, thus making their life more comfortable and acceptable.Many Filipinos come to both Sabah and West Malaysia to seek work, in most case honestly willing to process a valid work permit for themselves.
ReplyDeleteThese issues causes problems for typical Filipinos, who have either no money to pay for the expensive processing, or employers unwilling to pay for the expensive demands. To make matters worse, the Philippines has demanded of Malaysian immigration that all Filipino applications be accompanied by a POEA endorsement/acknowledgement, and to reject all applications without it. This has caused even more Filipinos to be disqualified, thus creating a huge number of illegals on both sides of Malaysia, especially those who are already there.
ReplyDeleteHowever, their own government has put official pressure on the Malaysian government to act according to the POEA rules and regulations, thus making most of these Filipinos unable to acquire any work permit, and eventually forcing them to be illegal. Some of these work permit regulations include; that workers be at least 23 years old, with a US$400 minimum monthly salary, dental care to be provided by employer, and expensive POEA processing through Philippine manpower agencies.
ReplyDeleteWhen Filipinos start finding cheaper ways to enter Malaysia to work, more and more Philippine regulation has made this resolve impotent. Those assisting Filipinos to work outside the Philippines, without going through POEA, are considered human traffickers. Passengers departing the Philippines, who are suspected of being illegal workers, are often offloaded while in the airport and their passports confiscated. To save cost, employers and employee would process their POEA documents without any involvement of Philippine manpower agencies, this came to a abrupt end in 2008 when POEA disallow any form of processing without going through Philippine manpower agencies
ReplyDelete