Former Sabah Chief Minister Harris Salleh who denied knowledge of Project IC added that "even if the identity cards were given out speedily, it was done according to the federal constitution."
KOTA KINABALU: The Royal Commissison of Inquiry (RCI) to investigate the problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah was told that 446,173 refugees and illegal immigrants were deported from 1990 to date.
Sabah and Labuan Federal Special Task Force Team director Suhaimi Mohd Salleh said those deported had no documents.
Asked how he came up with the number by RCI chairman, ex-chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak Steve Shim Lip Kiong, Suhaimi said there were records.
The fifth witness, who joined the Special Task Force on Jan 15, 2012, also said the team, which was set up on April 4, 1989, also managed and tackled problems of illegal immigrants in Sabah.
Suhaimi told conducting officer Manoj Kurup, the team was set up to help the Placement Unit under the Chief Minister’s Office (JKM) handle the increasing number of immigrants to Sabah.
Suhaimi also said a census of 32 refugee placement units in 2007 found 59,000 Filipino refugees while up to 2010, 38,000 Filipiono refugees were found at 16 placement units.
Fourth witness Mokhtar Yassin Ajam, who was JKM’s internal affairs and research secretary, told the commission that a review made between 2007 and 2010 found 33,019 Filipino refugees including 15,000 children in Sabah.
Mokhtar, who was attached to JKM since Oct, 2005, said the children were third and fourth generation offspring of refugees who came to Sabah in the early 1970s.
Mokhtar said all the refugees were those who were overlooked during the process of registering IMM-13 temporary identification passes implemented in 1976-1984.
No such project
He said since the parents did not have self identification documents, their children did not have birth certificates, thus not able to gain access to the government education system.
Nevertheless, he said, the federal government with non-governmental organisations had set up special schools for the children.
Meanwhile, former Sabah Chief Minister Harris Mohd Salleh denied the existence of a so called “Project IC” during his tenure as Chief Minister from 1976 to 1985.
“I have never heard of “Project IC”. As far as I am aware, there is no such thing as “Project IC”,” said Harris, adding that if the federal agency issued the identity cards, it might have been in a hurry as it had to deal with thousands of applications.
Harris, however, said even if the identity cards were given out speedily, it would have been done according to the provisions of the federal constitution.
When asked by Manoj to read his statement submitted to the RCI yesterday, Harris said among the policies adopted by the Federal government was to grant citizenship to refugees in accordance with the United Nations Charter.
“This was announced by Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al Haj, the then Prime Minister of Malaysia in early 1970s. Tunku announced that Muslim refugees can stay in Malaysia and also non-muslims (mostly Vietnamese), who in any case preferred either to go to Australia, Europe or the USA,” he said, adding that the policies seemed to be still in force these days.
Bernama
Projek ic bermula sejak Dr. M?
ReplyDeleteAdakah kerajaan akan bertidnak terhadapnya jika benar Dr. M disabit?
DeleteIsu kerakyatan songsang masih giat sehingga kini.
ReplyDeletekita tunggu hasil siasatan RCI...
ReplyDeleteSemoga RCI berjaya mengesan punca masalah PATI.
ReplyDeleteJabatan NRD harus disiasat dengan memberi mykad kepada golongan yang tidak berkelayakan.
ReplyDeleteMalaysia payah mencapai negara demokrasi jika adanya isu kerakyatan dalam PRU.
ReplyDeleteAdakah pemberian status kerakyatan mengikut prosedur yang betul?
ReplyDeleteRCI akan siasat samada projek IC benar2 wujud atau tidak.
ReplyDeletekita nntikan saja keputusannya.
ReplyDeletejgn ada pihak2 tertentu nak mengganggu RCI.
ReplyDeletePairin meminta semua pihak memberi ruang kepada Suruhanjaya Siasatan Diraja (RCI) menjalankan tugas menyiasat masalah pendatang tanpa izin di Sabah sebelum membuat penilaian.
ReplyDelete"Menurut amalan biasa, maklumat data haruslah dari saksi-saksi, selepas itu baru kita lihat apakah yang semua telah dikeluarkan, baru kita akan buat penilaian yang lebih bijak daripada sekarang," katanya.
ReplyDeleteKetua Menteri , Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman berkata, usaha-usaha membanteras dan membasmi masalah Pendatang Tanpa Izin (PATI) di negeri ini terus dipertingkatkan.
ReplyDeleteKatanya, ia akan terus dipertingkatkan melalui operasi-operasi membanteras PATI yang dijalankan.
ReplyDeleteSetelah pelaksanaan program 5P di Sabah, agensi-agensi penguatkuasaan akan meningkatkan usaha untuk membasmi masalah PATI secara berterusan.
ReplyDeleteKementerian Dalam Negeri (KDN) juga telah memberikan peruntukan awal sebanyak RM1 juta bagi Program 5P yang lalu.
ReplyDeleteMengenai tahap keselamatan semasa di negeri ini, Musa berkata, ia berada dalam keadaan memuaskan dengan tidak tiada kejadian-kejadian serius yang boleh membawa ancaman kepada keselamatan rakyat.
ReplyDeleteBeliau juga meminta semua pihak di negeri ini untuk terus mempertahankan keadaan keselamatan negeri dan sentiasa bersedia untuk menghulurkan kerjasama bagi memastikan Sabah sentiasa berada dalam keadaan selamat dan sejahtera secara keseluruhannya.
ReplyDelete“Hasil usaha serta tindakan-tindakan yang berterusan daripada semua agensi keselamatan, didapati kejadian-kejadian jenayah telah berkuarangan seterusnya menyumbang kepada peningkatan kesejahteraan hidup rakyat,” katanya.
ReplyDelete“Kerajaan Negeri akan sentiasa memberi perhatian dan mengambil tindakan sewajarnya dan berterusan untuk mengawasi perairan-perairan negeri ini daripada pencerobohan oleh anasir-anasir yang tidak bertanggugjawab agar kedaulatan negara akan terus kekal terpelihara,” katanya.
ReplyDeleteSabah and Labuan Federal Special Task Force Team director Datuk Suhaimi Mohd Salleh said those deported had no documents.
ReplyDeleteAsked how he came up with the number by RCI chairman, ex-chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong, Suhaimi said there were records.
The fifth witness, who joined the Special Task Force on Jan 15, 2012, also said the team. which was set up on April 4, 1989, also managed and tackled problems of illegal immigrants in Sabah.
DeleteSuhaimi told conducting officer Manoj Kurup, the team was set up to help the Placement Unit under the Chief Minister's Office (JKM) handle the increasing number of immigrants to Sabah.
Suhaimi also said a census of 32 refugee placement units in 2007 found 59,000 Filipino refugees while up to 2010, 38,000 Filipino refugees were found at 16 placement units.
DeleteFourth witness Mokhtar Yassin Ajam, who was JKM's internal affairs and research secretary, told the commission that a review made between 2007 and 2010 found 33,019 Filipino refugees including 15,000 children in Sabah.
Mokhtar, who was attached to JKM since Oct, 2005, said the children were third and fourth generation offspring of refugees who came to Sabah in the early 1970s.
DeleteMokhtar said all the refugees were those who were overlooked during the process of registering IMM-13 temporary identification passes implemented in 1976-1984.
He said since the parents did not have self identification documents, their children did not have birth certificates, thus not able to gain access to the government education system.
DeleteNevertheless, he said, the federal government with non-governmental organisations had set up special schools for the children.
Meanwhile, former Sabah Chief Minister Tan Sri Harris Mohd Salleh denied the existence of a so called "Project IC" during his tenure as Chief Minister from 1976 to 1985.
Delete"I have never heard of "Project IC." As far as I am aware, there is no such thing as "Project IC,"" said Harris, adding that if the federal agency issued the identity cards, it might have been in a hurry as it had to deal with thousands of applications.
ReplyDeleteHarris, however, said even if the identity cards were given out speedily, it would have been done according to the provisions of the federal constitution.
When asked by Manoj to read his statement submitted to the RCI today, Harris said among the policies adopted by the Federal government was to grant citizenship to refugees in accordance with the United Nations Charter.
Delete"This was announced by Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al Haj, the then Prime Minister of Malaysia in early 1970s. Tunku announced that Muslim refugees can stay in Malaysia and also non-Muslims (mostly Vietnamese), who in any case preferred either to go to Australia, Europe or the USA," he said, adding that the policies seemed to be still in force these days.
The hearing continues tomorrow.
Meanwhile, National Registration Department (NRD) Citizenship Division deputy director Nik Norashikin Nik Mansur told the inquiry that 66,682 illegal immigrants in Sabah were awarded citizenship from 1964 to October 2012.
Nik Norashikin, who serves the Putrajaya NRD, said the majority were from Malaysia with 38,214 people, China (13,000), Indonesia (7,000) and the remaining from the Philippines.
DeleteWhen asked to clarify why the majority was from Malaysia, the witness explained that the applicants had stated in their application that their country of origin was Malaysia.
"This could be because they are children of immigrants who were born in Malaysia, so they put Malaysia as their country of origin," the eighth witness said.