Wikileaks: Sabah deportations a political band-aid

Classified By: Political Section Chief Mark Clark for reasons 1.4 (b and d).

Summary

1.  (C) Residents of Malaysia's Sabah state, in northeast Borneo, are dismissive of the Government's latest "crackdown" against illegal immigrants.  The federal government launched the campaign as a measure to meet demands by Sabah politicians who are being wooed to shift their support to the opposition led by Anwar Ibrahim.  The deportation campaign, which has by-passed factories and plantations that depend on migrant workers, is widely perceived as "lip service" and a "political exercise" not meant to solve the problem.

Most observers believe that any truly effective operation to expel illegals would damage the state's economy, which is highly dependent on cheap migrant labor.  Local politicians are critical of the crackdown and questioned the federal government's motives.  A call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to probe the causes of the massive illegal migration is unlikely to gain traction as such a commission could expose current and Mahathir-era politicians' efforts to manipulate votes and change the state's ethnic balance by illegitimately providing Malaysian papers to illegal immigrants.  End Summary.

Deportations a "Political Band-aid"

2.  (C) The Government of Malaysia (GOM) announced in July it would undertake a campaign of mass deportations of illegal immigrants in the East Malaysian state of Sabah, the latest in a series of such campaigns launched every three or four years.  The embattled government of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi took this decision against the backdrop of possible defections by Sabah MPs to the opposition led by Anwar Ibrahim.  Many Sabah politicians, and the indigenous population, rate illegal immigration as the state's foremost problem and blame the federal government for both facilitating illegal migrants and failing to take corrective action.  Using their new-found role as possible swing votes in the national Parliament, Sabah politicians have put immigration enforcement high on their list of demands.

3.  (C) Simon Sipaun, Vice-chairman of Malaysia's Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) told Emboff he estimates 1.9 million illegal and/or undocumented people live in Sabah, higher than the GOM's official number of 240,000.  The GOM announced plans to deport 100,000 - 150,000 persons, and allocated 50 million ringgit (an estimated 15,625,000 USD) to fund the operation.  Local observers in Sabah told Poloff that the crackdown's accomplishments were minimal as of mid-August.  Authorities screened 19,686 persons from August 1-17 of which only 2,697 were detained and sent to immigration detention centers.  The government also instituted a three-month grace period to allow local businesses in Sabah to register and by doing so legalize their undocumented employees.

4.  (C) Muhammad Radzi Jamaludin, Principal Assistant Secretary in the MFA Southeast Asia Division, conceded to Poloff recently that many Filipinos were returning only a couple weeks after their deportations.  He said some stay an additional week in the Philippines "on vacation" in their home villages prior to returning.  According to Radzi, another unexpected wrinkle was that some Malaysians (all women) are falsely claiming Filipino citizenship and upon reaching the Philippines announced their Malaysian citizenship and said they desired to stay with their spouses, who were being deported.  He added that the majority of Filipinos in Sabah entered legally, but overstay their visas.

Malaysia's Immigration Department is reportedly recording biometrics of deportees to identify those who attempt to re-enter.  On August 29, Ramlan Ibrahim, Undersecretary for Southeast Asia in the Foreign Affairs Ministry told poloff and Staffdel Luse that all deportations were being conducted humanely and were targeting only the able-bodied.

Public and Observers not Impressed

5. (C) New Straits Times journalist Jaswendar Kaur told Poloff that authorities were selective in rounding up illegal immigrants.  The focus of the sweeps centered on shantytowns and bypassed plantations and factories, whose owners are politically well-connected.  Manufacturing associations dependent upon foreign labor were approaching the government, arguing that mass deportations would adversely affect factory operations.  Kaur saw little difference in current deportation efforts from prior crackdowns.  Emboff was in Sabah from August 18-22 and discussed the deportation operation in casual conversations with local Sabahans.  No one expressed any particular excitement about the operation. Such government efforts occur every four-five years and most Sabahans had a "we've seen it all before" attitude.

Sabah BN Politicians Skeptical

6.  (C) Yong Tek Lee, former Chief Minister and President of the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) who has called for the Prime Minister's resignation (ref B), met with Emboff on August 21.  In his view, if the government were serious about tackling the illegal immigrant issue, it would commit more than 50 million ringgit.  He viewed the deportations as little more than lip service to the concerns of Sabahans.  He maintained that the ruling National Front (BN) government spent more on the recent Permatang Pauh by-election (ref A) than in trying to control illegal immigration in Sabah.

Several Sabahans interviewed by Emboff expressed similar opinions.  Bernard Dompok, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, told us he wanted a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate who is supplying illegal immigrants in Sabah with Malaysian documents such as identity cards.  Otherwise, he believes, any crackdown will be ineffective.

COMMENT

7.  (C) Sabahans consider illegal immigration a major concern, even though important segments of the state's economy are highly dependent on cheap migrant labor.  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 the current illegal immigrant crackdown illustrates the overall mistrust of the BN government and its peninsula-centric policies.  The crackdown to date is 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.

Sabahans see the immigrants being deported as "low hanging fruit," enabling authorities to demonstrate that they are "doing something" about the problem.  According to Jaswendar, a previous short-lived crackdown that proved too effective in detaining illegal immigrants was stopped after local business leaders complained and the police official who planned the operation was punished and transferred.

8. (C) Dompok's desire for a Royal Commission is likely to remain unfulfilled.  The central government and the leading UMNO party for many years facilitated issuance of Malaysian documents to illegal immigrants in exchange for their political support.

A retired senior intelligence official frankly admitted to us earlier this year that the previous government of Mahathir also facilitated illegal immigration from Indonesia and the Philippines in order to better balance the state's ethnic and religious equation as a 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.

KEITH (September 2008)

Lifted from Malaysia-today