Putrajaya should clear the air and recall all Malaysian identity cards issued to foreigners in Sabah by the clandestine "Unit Khas Sabah" set up under the National Registration Department (NRD), says a Barisan Nasional (BN) lawmaker.
Tuaran MP Datuk Wilfred Madius Tangau (pic) said no one knew how the secretive unit operated.
"The identity cards were issued by the Unit Khas Sabah which was established under the NRD, a federal agency.
Tangau, who is United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) deputy president, said that what was known was that the unit was tasked with issuing identity cards to "dubious citizens" under three categories.
"But the question is why do they need to issue ICs to dubious citizens in the first place, and why do they need to set up a special unit when there is the NRD?" Tangau asked, adding that he will raise this issue again at the committee stage of the winding-up debate on Budget 2014 in Parliament.
His comments came in the wake of reports that several people, including an NRD assistant officer, were arrested by police in Miri where authorities reportedly smashed Sarawak's biggest syndicate behind the falsifying of MyKad and birth certificates on Monday.
Of those arrested, most were from Sarawak, while the rest comprised two Bajaus from Sabah, six from the peninsula, including the NRD officer, and seven men and three women from the Philippines. He also demanded an investigation to determine whether current and former NRD officers were involved in the syndicates falsifying MyKad.
Tangau reiterated the call he and Upko president Tan Sri Bernard Dompok had made at the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into illegal immigrants in Sabah to recall the identity cards issued to refugees from the Philippines who were allowed into Sabah since the 1980s.
He said that another question that needed to be answered was who controlled the information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure services at the NRD, as ICT was used in the application and processing of MyKad.
"Is it controlled by the NRD or linked somewhere else, because the fake ICs being sold by these syndicates for between RM2,000 and RM10,000 each are authentic," he said. Tangau stressed that the only way to get to the bottom of the problem was for a total recall of ICs issued after the 1970s.p>
"Bona-fide Sabahans need not worry, they should be able to prove their citizenship easily.”
It was earlier reported that as a witness at the RCI, Tangau had suggested that those who had been issued the ICs should reapply using their birth certificates to weed out the illegals. Dompok had also testified at the RCI that the reluctance of Home Ministry officers to appear as witnesses and give statements to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Integrity (PSCI) , which he headed in 2006, was the reason he resigned as PSCI chairman.
The PSCI was investigating the issuance of identity cards to illegals in Sabah. Dompok had also suggested at the RCI that Filipino refugees who were in Sabah should be sent back to the Philippines.
"The situation in the Philippines has changed. The war is over and it is a lot more peaceful and safer now," he had said at the RCI.
The RCI was formed in August 2012 to investigate problems related to citizenship and immigrants in Sabah. The five-man panel heard how Malaysian ICs were issued to illegal immigrants in coffee shops and villages, instead of collecting them from the NRD.
After hearing testimonies from more than 200 witnesses, the panel led by former Sabah and Sarawak Chief Justice Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong retired to study and deliberate the various documents and exhibits tendered during the year-long inquiry. Among those who gave evidence and statements were former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his former deputy Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
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