No choice for illegals this time

Kota Kinabalu: The regularisation of illegal immigrants will not be carried out in Sabah during the latest nationwide amnesty programme from July 18 because it had already been carried out several times in the State.State Secretary Datuk Sukarti Wakiman said Sabah conducted the regularisation of illegal immigrants four times, namely, in 1997, 1998, 2008 and 2009.

He said the State would only apply five of the 6Ps in the amnesty package offered to illegal immigrants.

"The package includes registration, amnesty, monitoring, enforcement and deportation," he told a press conference at Wisma Innoprise, Wednesday.

He said no regularisation exercise would be carried out in Sabah to prevent any more illegals entering the State to take advantage of the documentation process. It is also to prevent foreign workers from changing their identities.

SPONSORED CONTENT

Sabah revenue hits RM6.97 billion: Hajiji says GRS State Government may see full term

Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Government continued its momentum in managing the economy in line with the commitment and spirit of the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) when it posted record high state revenue of RM6.973 billion last year.

"There are foreign workers who deliberately change their identities in their passports that they acquired in Sabah," he said.

Sabah Immigration Department Director, Mohammad Mentek, said the focus in the amnesty programme this time around is to get the illegals properly registered.

There are nine locations they could register, namely, in Kudat community hall, Menggatal community hall, Ranau community hall, Keningau community hall, Sipitang community hall, Tawau community hall, Lahad Datu community hall and art gallery in Semporna.

Registration is free during the two-week exercise, the authorities would not take any action such as arresting the illegals.

"We want them to go for the registration so that we can obtain data from them including biometric data and their mug shot," he said.

If the registration period is inadequate, the Immigration Department might extend it by another two weeks. A registration certificate with security features on it would be issued to the illegals.

Throughout the registration and amnesty period, no action would be taken against them. Mohammad urged employers or anyone hiring illegal immigrants to register their illegal foreign workers during the registration period.

The Government would not freeze the hiring of foreign workers during the period.

He said there are four categories of illegal immigrants with the first category - those who entered Malaysia illegally via non-sanctioned entry points.

The second category are those who have overstayed their social visit pass while the third category are those who breached the terms of their work pass.

Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.

Daily Express Malaysia

"Some of them were stated as maids in their work pass but in reality they are engaged in business activities or minding shops for another employer," he said.

The fourth category are those (mostly Indonesians) who obtain their passport from the embassy here but do not have endorsements for entry and exit. He urged employers who hire these illegal immigrants to bring them to be registered during the registration period.

Try 1 month for RM 18.00

Try 1 month for RM 18.00

Try 1 month for RM 18.00