Saravanan should quit for calling legalising migrants a ‘stupid idea’, says Harris

 

Harris Salleh has reminded M Saravanan that Sabah’s migrant workers had entered the state through ‘legal channels’ 10 to 20 years ago.

PETALING JAYA: Former Sabah chief minister Harris Salleh says human resources minister M Saravanan should resign for calling the legalising of undocumented migrants in the workforce a “stupid idea”.

At the launch of a forum on human capital migration in Sabah last week, Saravanan also said that illegal immigrants should be deported to their countries of origin as legalising them would encourage more illegal immigrants to enter the country.

Harris said the issue of legalising undocumented migrants for the workforce had been decided by the Cabinet, Daily Express reported.

“As such, (if) any minister disagrees with the Cabinet or federal government’s decision, he or she should resign. This is parliamentary democracy,” he said.

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He said the undocumented migrants who were working illegally had originally entered the country through “proper channels” and would have been in Sabah for 10 to 20 years.

“However, in the absence of any further legal process, their legal papers became obsolete,” the Sabah daily quoted him as saying.

Harris also said that undocumented migrants in the workforce played a key role in Sabah’s economy, especially in the palm oil sector.

“Without these workers, Sabah’s economy will collapse,” he said. - FMT