Denied entry for what security reasons?

Sabah and Sarawak chief ministers share the dubious honour of banning civil rights activists and embracing illegals and alleged illicit activities.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman has refused to explain why his government barred human rights activist Haris Ibrahim from entering the state this week.


Haris was, on arrival at the Kota Kinabalu airport on Wednesday, served with a Notice of Dismissal of Entry to Sabah by an immigration officer and  immediately put on the next flight back to Kuala Lumpur.

The letter dated Dec 7 was signed by one ‘Syamilin” on behalf of the Sabah Immigration director Mohammad Matek.

Musa and the state government have come under heavy criticism for barring Haris, who is a lawyer and president of the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM), whilst allowing thousands of illegal immigrants into the state.

Yesterday Musa told reporters the decision to deny Haris entry into Sabah was because of ‘security reasons”.

Declining to elaborate, Musa when pressed by the media, merely said: “the incident is related to security issues” and that the authorities “had strong reasons … that is all I want to say.”

According to Haris the reason given in the notice specified that it was in accordance with the Immigration Act 1959/63 that stipulated that the state authority has the power to bar him from entry, Haris said.

All entry points monitored

The Sabah government’s ban on the outspoken lawyer mimics the action of the Sarawak government under Chief Minister Taib Mahmud which had also barred Haris from entering the  state in September.

They had flexed the same law.

Meanwhile, Sabah Immigration Department director Mohammad Mentek revealed that apart from Haris, another Malaysian citizen was also barred from entering the state but declined to disclose his name.

He said the department had received an order from the state government not to issue a visit pass to the man who is a member of an NGO in the country, according to local media reports.

“So far only two persons have been barred from entering Sabah,” he was quoted as saying.

Apart from Haris, the second, whose identity Mohammad said he could not reveal, is from Kuala Lumpur “and is involved in spreading issues related to deviationist teachings”.

Mohammad said the department would monitor all entry points in Sabah to prevent that person’s entry into the state.

Paranoid government

Meanwhile social activists and opposition party members have had a field day mocking the state government’s ban on Haris as paranoia while pointing out that the authorities had allowed hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants to flood the state without restraint.

The state government’s decision to bar the activists also comes just as calls to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to investigate claims how thousands of foreigners have illegally gained citizenship and voting rights over the last two decades have gained traction with a parliamentary panel agreeing that the calls had merit, much to the discomfort of Umno.

Opposition politicians, social activists and NGOs have all provided evidence that the state Barisan Nasional and Umno government authorities were complicit in a scheme hatched in the 1990s to trade citizenship for votes for the ruling coalition.

Michael Kaung