Search This Blog

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Wikileaks: RCI on Sabah illegals unlikely ...

WikiLeaks: RCI on Sabah illegals unlikely due to Dr M-era politicians

A confidential US embassy cable puts little hope in the possibility of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Sabah's illegal immigrant problem, blaming it on the vested interests of "Mahathir-era politicians" in the state.


The cable, posted online by Wikileaks, alleged that the federal government and Umno had actively facilitated the issuance of Malaysian documents to illegal immigrants in exchange for political support.

The cable went on to claim that a retired senior intelligence official "frankly admitted" that former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed's administration had "facilitated illegal immigration" from neighbouring Indonesia and the Philippines to "better balance the state's ethnic and religious equation".

The retired official allegedly said that this was a preventive measure to "ward off any future separatist sentiments in Sabah, in addition to attracting Umno votes needed to control the state".

"A Royal Commission, operated properly, would likely expose the depth of Umno and BN's political corruption and vote manipulation, further inciting Sabahans," stated the cable, dated Sept 5, 2008.

Sabah politicians and activists have long been demanding that the federal government fulfil its responsibilities in helping solve this long-standing issue, with many claiming that it started to get out of hand during the 1994 state elections when the then opposition PBS was toppled by the BN after a nine-year rule.

Among the demands put forward was for a RCI to be formed to probe the root causes of the state's burgeoning illegal immigrant problem.

The latest call came from Upko president and Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Bernard Dompok, following the purported installation of a Sabah businessman as the Sultan of Sulu.

Crackdown on illegals 'political band aid'

This was, however, not the first time Dompok had demanded a RCI, with the cable stating that he had told US embassy officials back in 2008 that the Royal Commission is needed to find out who are issuing Malaysian documents to illegal immigrants for any action to be effective.

Describing the periodic operations against the illegal migrants in Sabah as "political band aid", the cable pointed out that Sabahans "see the immigrants being deported as 'low hanging fruit', enabling authorities to demonstrate that they are 'doing something' about it".

The cable also quoted the then Suhakam vice-chairperson Simon Sipaun, who cited estimates of around 1.9 million illegals and/or undocumented people living in Sabah, far higher than the federal government's official estimates of 240,000.

Another person quoted in the cable, Muhammad Radzi Jamaludin who was principal assistant secretary in the Foreign Affairs Ministry's Southeast Asia division, allegedly conceded to US embassy officials that many Filipinos deported from Sabah returned after just "a couple weeks".

He added that some Malaysian women falsely claim Filipino citizenship, only to announce they are Malaysians upon reaching the Philippines and that they wanted to stay with their husbands, who were being deported.

Govt accused of 'selective crackdown'

The cable concluded that the federal government crackdowns on illegal immigrants in Sabah have been "selective" and "explicitly avoids raids on key areas of migrant employment" such as manufacturing, logging, palm oil plantations and service industries, "which could be forced to curtail operations without their illegal migrant workers".

A local journalist met by US embassy officials allegedly told them that an earlier damping down "that proved too effective" in detaining illegal immigrants after local business leaders complained and the police official who planned the operation was punished and transferred.

"Sabahans consider illegal immigration a major concern, even though important segments of the state's economy are highly dependent on cheap migrant labour.

"Many view illegal immigrants, especially Filipino Muslims, as upsetting the political balance in Sabah, whose native majority is Catholic.

"The lack of enthusiasm among Sabahans for current illegal immigrant crackdown illustrates the overall mistrust of the BN government and its peninsular-centric policies," the cable said.

29 comments:

  1. Dr Mahathir is the worst traitor of Malaysia

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jika sudah tahu tiada kemungkinan RCI ini akan diluluskan, maka janganlah terus mahu bergantung pada RCI ini sahaja untuk menyelesaikan masalah PATI. Kenalah fikir cara-cara lain.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Saya yakin bukan hanya ada satu cara penyelesaian untuk isu ini.

    ReplyDelete
  4. So Sabahans? I can't wait to know what will be your reaction towards this matter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. their are still fool, coz no political minded, what they know is just drunk `tapai' and happy2 dirty chat...

      Delete
  5. Only Sabahans can do something to change a thing.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thinks wise and do not repeat the same mistake!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Apa cara-mu Jasa? Jika ada ringan2kanlah hati dan jari menaip. Kalau tak, apa kurangnya kamu dgn org2 umno/bn dan pencacai2 najis mereka. cakap ja ada cara lain tapi di hujung diakhiri dgn "mungkin". tidak hairanlah kesemua pemimpin2 umno/bn hanya tahu cakap banyak tapi bertindak pula tidak. kurangkan bercakap, lebihkan berkerja. RCI penting bukan utk selesaikan masalah PTI dlm masa semalaman. tujuan utama RCI adalah merungkai apa saja yg terselindung di sebalik masalah yg timbul yg tidak terjawab. kita ingin tahu apa/siapa yg harus dipersalahkan/dipertanggungjwbkan. selama ini permasalahan ini dan punca/penyebab disebaliknya kekal misteri dan tindakan kerajaan pusat terus menerus menafikan permintaan majoriti rakyat SABAH terhadap RCI seolah-oleh memberitahu kita yg ada sesuatu benda "BUSUK" disembunyikan.

    ReplyDelete
  8. "retired senior intelligence official "frankly admitted" that former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed's administration had "facilitated illegal immigration" from neighbouring Indonesia and the Philippines to "better balance the state's ethnic and religious equation"."

    Betul ke ini berlaku? Ada bukti?

    ReplyDelete
  9. "The cable also quoted the then Suhakam vice-chairperson Simon Sipaun, who cited estimates of around 1.9 million illegals and/or undocumented people living in Sabah, far higher than the federal government's official estimates of 240,000."

    I really can't imagine if really there are 1.9million illegal immigrants located in Sabah now. We have the right to know what is heppening now, these number enough to spoilt the state and the people.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Lebih baik dedahkan rahsia berserta bukti yang kukuh agar rakyat dapat mengetahui kebenaran

    ReplyDelete
  11. Are the cable information can be trusted

    ReplyDelete
  12. The illegal immigrant issue is very critical nowadays.

    ReplyDelete
  13. The illegal immigrants issue is indeed in a very critical condition. Don't know whether the 5P will be an effective solution. And the RCI thing still in blurry. As long as there are traitors, this problem is unlikely to be solved.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Qasy Osy said...
    Lebih baik dedahkan rahsia berserta bukti yang kukuh agar rakyat dapat mengetahui kebenaran

    If only it is easy to be done, it might be done long time ago.

    ReplyDelete
  15. i think RCI is the only way which can solve the illegal immigrant issue in sabah..

    ReplyDelete
  16. however the state govt is on the right track to solve this issue through its 5P programme..

    ReplyDelete
  17. sabahan should fight for RCI on this issue..

    ReplyDelete
  18. RCI adalah satu usaha untuk menyelesaikan masalah PATI, usaha2 seperti ini harus kita sokong.

    ReplyDelete
  19. harap masalah pati akan dapat diatasi melalui pelbagai usaha yang berterusan.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Projek IC telah bermula sejak sekian lama. malah Anwar sendiri terlibat dalam projek ini semasa dia menjadi Menteri Kewangan. dia yang kontrol budget untuk projek ini.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Rabbit said...

    "Are the cable information can be trusted?"

    What do u think, can it? Can we trust wikileaks? After ol there has been many exposure done by the wikileaks because of cable leaks. n d exposure has cause many wrongdoer face d Justice of Law. So far they never fail. So, can we trust d cable?

    ReplyDelete
  22. alice said...

    "however the state govt is on the right track to solve this issue through its 5P programme.."

    Oh yes? are you sure Alice? don't be to optimistic. Because I'm doubtful. how many years you following this issue? 1 year, 2 years, 4 years, 1 decade, or just last week? How many PTI programme have been established since BN take office? and how may of it implemented? I tell you, there are many of such this 5p programme. Only the name and the way of the programme handled different. But the main agenda is just exactly the same. The only programme they bit successful is the time when Chong Kah Kiat was the CM. But they failed last minutes and their effort gone by the time. and when the musa take over, the PTI start to come over again and this time they triple their number. Why? because of political protection by the musa regime.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Lets see how well the 5P programs against PATI.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Its too early to jump into conclusion about 5P program.. May be its resulting good at the end. Lets wait and see.. Happen if problems still ca't solve well, may be RCI can take as alternative solution.

    ReplyDelete
  25. 5P just a medication to solve PATI issue. Most important is the front line people should play their role and be responsible to filter those illegal immigrants.

    ReplyDelete
  26. "who cited estimates of around 1.9 million illegals and/or undocumented people living in Sabah, far higher than the federal government's official estimates of 240,000."

    Yang mana betul? Jumlah 1.9million memang satu jumlah yang cukup besar untuk mengancam ketenteraman negara. Kerajaan seharus lebih berhati-hati dan perlu mengambil langkah mencegah masalah PATI.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Kami perlu langkah pencegahan!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Cegah PATI maka dapatlah kurangkan PATI. Kalau bolehkan tangkap ketua penyeludup PATI itu baru mudah selesaikan masalah ini.

    ReplyDelete