Relocate migrants to border islands: PKR
Published on: Thursday, February 18, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah PKR Vice Chairman Dr Roland Chia (pic) wants the Federal Government to set a deadline for relocating refugee settlements statewide due to the security threat its inhabitants posed against Sabahans. Chia said this following a massive crackdown in a notorious Filipino refugee settlement in Telipok over the weekend where it was reported that Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Abd Rashid Harun said six individuals were arrested over their alleged involvement in assisting foreign criminals including drug-related activities, while 520 illegals were also hauled among 4,794 people rounded up for documentation process.According to the PKR Inanam Assemblyman, the migrants should be relocated to islands neighbouring their countries of origin, adding that this should be part of the solution to solve the security threats to the Sabah people.
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"And if they wish to work here, regularise them with work permit and screen them before coming back to Sabah for the purpose of employment," he said in a statement here.He also urged the State Security Council, headed by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, to officially close down all the settlement schemes, including Telipok, which are the hotbeds for criminals and drug-related crimes. Chia noted Malaysia could follow Australia's move to deal with its migrant problems as mentioned in the Pacific Solutions Treaty whereby the migrants were made to stay in detention centers in islands outside of the country like the Manus Regional Processing Center in Papua New Guinea and the Nauru Regional Processing Centre located in the South Pacific Island nation of Nauru. As the elected Assemblyman for Inanam which composed of Kolombong, Inanam and Menggatal, he was utterly unhappy by the mushrooming refugee settlements in his area where the largest detention centre in the country is located, namely the Menggatal Temporary Immigration Detention Centre in Kampung Sinompuru.
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He said the migrants were also found lurking around the City and beyond, risking the safety of families and young innocent individuals. "Malaysian tax payers are used to fund these detainees with food, shelter and clean water supply whereas the locals in villages still source water from gravity feed facilities from the hills.
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