Azis dares Jeffrey: Let’s see you deport all stateless people
Published on: Tuesday, June 02, 2020
Kota Kinabalu: Former Deputy Home Minister Datuk Mohd Azis Jamman (pic) has challenged Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan to deport all stateless people in Sabah immediately just as what he had been fighting for when he was still in the opposition bloc.Mohd Azis said if the Parti Solidariti Tanahairku (Star) president had been vocal in criticising and claiming that the Warisan government was “friendly” towards the stateless people, “now is the time for Jeffrey to carry his responsibility.”
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He further said, the previous government had explained that the main difficulty was the countries supposed to accept them refusing to do so.
“However, Jeffrey has been criticising vocally. As such, he should prove that he is able to do it,” he said.
“Jeffrey can work together with Deputy Home Minister Jonathan Yasin to ensure the government can send these people home.”
He also said that Dr Jeffrey is only “full of rhetoric”.
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“Yes, I may have been considered as a ‘failure’ as I did not send them home. So now, I challenge Jonathan and Jeffrey to do so.
“It is easier said than done, it is not easy for us to repatriate them as both parties need to agree on it.”
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He stressed that in handling illegal immigrants, the measures taken by the Government had not changed where they are captured, charged in court and deported.
However, he said, the problem arose when the second and third generation of refugees who came to Sabah in the 1960s became stateless people.
“These people became a problem as countries like the Philippines refused to accept them and that is why the Warisan-led government decided to continue with the introduction of the Sabah Resident Pass which was mooted by the Barisan Nasional (BN) but under a new name, Sabah Temporary Pass (PSS),” he said.
However, he said, the proposed PSS was cancelled due to the objections from leaders like Jeffrey who want the stateless people to be sent home to the country of origin, instead of being given PSS.
“Jeffrey questioned why these people are not being detained, and even if they are detained, they are kept in detention depot…we need to have the agreement from the other countries before we can send them home.”Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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