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Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah state government is firm in its stance that the enforcement of the Malaysia Border Control and Protection Agency Act 2024 (Act 860) must not erode the state's immigration autonomy, the State Legislative Assembly was told today.

Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Joniston Bangkuai said the state government's position had been conveyed via an official letter to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, including its insistence on retaining the Sabah State Immigration Department as the agency in charge of entry points into the state.

He said the state government also maintains that the issuance of Not-To-Land (NTL) notices must remain under the department's purview.

While acknowledging that the Act falls under federal jurisdiction, he stressed that Sabah's position is clear: its implementation by the AKPS must not compromise the state's autonomous rights as enshrined under Article V of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

"The Sabah state government affirms that the immigration powers granted to Sabah under Article V of MA63 are non-negotiable," he said in response to an oral question from Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau (GRS-Tamparuli), who had asked why the state government postponed the Act's implementation in Sabah.

Joniston said the state government's stance is also crucial to ensure that constitutional safeguards guaranteeing Sabah's position are always protected against any form of erosion.

"The state government stresses that there shall be no encroachment on Sabah's special rights and autonomous immigration powers, as well as those of the state authority," he said.

On May 13, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor was reported as saying that the state government had decided to postpone the Act's policy and implementation until it secures a guarantee that Sabah's special rights, immigration autonomy and state authority would remain untouched.

Hajiji made it clear that Sabahand Sarawak's immigration autonomy is non-negotiable, as the very formation of Malaysia under MA63 was contingent upon the enactment of immigration autonomy powers for both states.