Solution exists to illegals issue in Sabah
Published on: Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: There is a solution to the perennial issue of illegal immigrants in Sabah. This solution existed since 1963 – six months before the Malaysia Agreement was signed.However, there was no political will by both the Federal and State governments to address the issue.Jeremiah Yee, Kota Kinabalu-based legal consultant-cum-economist said the Chief Minister of Sabah can always exercise the powers vested in him under the Immigration Act 1959/1963 to instruct the State Immigration Department to round up and deport these immigrants, including those with Malaysian citizenship, from Sabah to the peninsula.
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He cited that Section 65 (1) (c ) of the said Act clearly stipulates: "… the Director (of Immigration) shall comply with any directions given to him by the State authority (Sabah Chief Minister), being directions … to order a specified person's (or persons') removal from the State (Sabah)." "This decision by the Sabah Chief Minister is final and cannot be appealed (Section 59) and non-justifiable (Section 59A)." Yee cited the plight of Sabahans over the presence of large number of immigrants who are being given citizenships to vote in the elections and competing with the locals economically."When these migrant citizens are banned from Sabah, there should be no way they can physically cast ballots in any Sabah constituency even though their names are on the electoral rolls," he said.
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He said that in the past, the State government under the stewardship of one of the chief ministers under the chief ministers rotation system had successfully deported tens of thousands of illegal immigrants."Putrajaya has a constitutional duty to perform these tasks. There are provisions in List I (Federal List) under the Ninth Schedule of the Malaysian Constitution that immigration which includes visas, permits or other certificates of entry, national registration, citizenship and naturalisation of aliens are under the exclusive purview of the Federal government.
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"Or alternatively, it should perhaps delegate these executive powers to the Sabah government in a proper devolution since the latter is in a better position to understand the problem (of illegal immigrants)."It is unthinkable that there are hundreds of thousands of undocumented people in Sabah," he said.On former Chief Minister Tan Sri Harris Salleh's citing of the United Nations Convention in urging the Federal government to accept illegal immigrants in Sabah as permanent residents and citizens, Yee opined that such a status should only be accorded if they are genuine political refugees, citing that it is a human right accorded to persons seeking asylum in foreign countries from persecution in their home countries."It is only humane for Malaysia to accommodate these refugees in their time of need. However, when the situation in their countries of origin has improved for the better, these refugees should be given the opportunity to choose whether or not they want to be repatriated."If they wish to stay in Malaysia, it is up to the Federal government to exercise its constitutional powers to grant them citizenship," he said. He recapitulated that immigration of refugees and illegals into Sabah who are eventually given citizenship to vote in elections is a prominent and thorny issue, second only to the economy."All along, the government policy in this matter which totally disregarded the sensitivities and interests of the local people is a complete disaster."It is my view that those who are without travel documents must be issued with the proper documentations either by the Malaysian authorities or the governments of their countries of origin, so that their presence in Sabah can be legalised with the necessary endorsements on such travel documents."It is also my standpoint that those who already have existing identification and travel documents must be properly regulated as to where they can stay and what they can do for a living in Sabah."Lastly, as you can see from the above, there is a difference between legalising and regularising them. If they have no documentations, their stay in Sabah cannot be legalised; only when they have documentations can their presence be regulated especially when their expired passes are renewed – that is regularisation," he said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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