KUCHING: A Sarawak activist has called for police to review cases of criminals sent to rural parts of Sabah and Sarawak under the now-repealed Restricted Residence Act 1933 and Banishment Act 1959.
Peter John Jaban said many of those banished may have married local women and settled down but could still create problems without continued supervision by police.
He said the policy of sending criminals to rural areas was flawed in the first place because many of them simply set up shop again and influenced the rural communities, especially the youths.
“Instead of containing the problems of gangsterism, smuggling and drugs, they helped to spread it around the country into areas where the locals were used to a much simpler way of life,” he said in a statement.
“Some of them who were sent here before these two acts were abolished in 2011 are still here,” he said.
Peter’s statement comes following a fight in Beaufort, Sabah, last week, where a local man was killed. The main suspect, with seven criminal cases linked to him between 2003 and 2004, is said to be from Peninsular Malaysia.
This suspect had spent a year in jail in 2007 but had no longer been under police supervision since 2008, after having settled down with a Dusun wife from Keningau, with five children.
It was reported the suspect may have fled to Sarawak after the Beaufort incident.
“In most of these cases, the ‘buang negeri’ or ‘buang daerah’ (restricted residence) orders were made discreetly so local residents were not even aware of the potentially dangerous criminals who had been forcibly relocated to their areas,” Peter said.
“It would be a complete abdication of responsibility, on the part of the police, if they did not continue their supervision of these criminal suspects after these acts were abolished,” he added.
Therefore, he urged Bukit Aman to continue monitoring those sent to Sabah and Sarawak under the acts and who were still residing there.
He said the state governments, which had full immigration autonomy, should deport anyone found to be causing problems or disturbing the peace.
