Abu Bakar said 5,373 immigrants in Sarawak have been issued blue ICs from 1963 to 2012
KOTA KINABALU - About 66,000 immigrants in Sabah have received blue ICs since 1963, a whopping 12 times more than those in Sarawak, the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants heard today.
Sarawak National Registration Department (NRD) director Datuk Abu Bakar Mat testified at the RCI here today that 5,373 immigrants in Sarawak have been issued blue ICs from 1963 to 2012.
“In Sabah, it’s 66,000. The difference is very stark,” said conducting officer Manoj Kurup in response.
“The location of Sarawak is different from Sabah...geography is the cause of the flood of immigrants. This did not happen in Sarawak,” said Abu Bakar.
Thousands of Filipino refugees fled to Sabah in the 1970s to escape the Jolo civil war in the south.
The porous borders of Sabah were also breached last February when Sulu gunmen invaded Lahad Datu in the east coast that can be reached by boat in less than an hour from the southern Philippines.
Sarawak, however, has a land border with Kalimantan, Indonesia.
About 28 per cent of Sabah’s 3.2 million-strong population are foreigners, numbering a staggering 889,000 people.
The influx of illegal immigrants has angered Sabah natives like the Kadazandusun and Murut (KDM) communities, many of whom feel that the Borneo state has been robbed of its sovereignty through the deluge of foreigners from the Philippines and Indonesia.
UPKO president Tan Sri Bernard Dompok lost the Penampang federal seat, a KDM-majority constituency, in the May 5 general election.
Some Pakistani and Indian foreigners have also previously testified at the RCI about obtaining blue ICs within just a few years of arriving in Sabah and subsequently voting in elections.
The RCI, before a five-man panel chaired by former Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong, resumes later in the afternoon.
BY BOO SU-LYN
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad stated that the granting of citizenship to foreigners in Sabah as a "lawful" act but denied knowledge of any political considerations involved.
ReplyDeleteTHIS CRIMINAL DESERVES TO BE SKINNED ALIVE AND HAVE ANTS CRAWL ALL OVER HIM!
DeleteThe reason for the rise in Sabah’s population includes the presence of illegal immigrants in the state, Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz said in Parliament before.
ReplyDeleteGOOD THAT THE COLONIAL RULERS CONFIRM WHAT WE KNOW THEY KNOW!
DeleteBUT ARE THEY GOING TO SHIP ALL ILLEGALS TO MALAYA TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM??
Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan pernah meminta semua pihak memberi ruang kepada Suruhanjaya Siasatan Diraja (RCI) menjalankan tugas menyiasat masalah pendatang tanpa izin di Sabah sebelum membuat penilaian. Ia, katanya, bagi memastikan prosiding berjalan lancar mengikut terma yang ditetapkan kerajaan.
ReplyDeleteJadi janganlah memandai-mandai buat kesimpulan pula ya. hihi
ReplyDeleteSelepas PRU, isu Lahad Datu agak tenggelam pula. Sekarang ini RCI bersambung tapi isu yang dapat perhatian setakat ni di Sabah ialah isu rogol budak bawah umur & pesalah itu pula mahu kawin dengan mangsa. hhmmm....
ReplyDeleteGroup upset over man marrying underage victim
ReplyDeleteKOTA KINABALU: A women's group in Sabah is outraged over an alleged 40-year-old rapist marrying his underage victim under Syariah law in an apparent attempt to escape criminal prosecution for statutory rape.
Sabah Women's Action Resource Group said this was a dangerous trend and urged the Attorney-General's Chambers and state Syariah officials to exercise discretion and good judgment to prevent manipulation the justice system.
“In Sabah, more than 50% of the rape cases involve underage girls.
“This case is part of a worrying trend in which older men proposed marriage after being charged with statutory rape to circumvent the mandatory provisions of the Penal Code,” group adviser Mary Lee said.
Referring to the case at the Sessions Court yesterday, Lee noted that the girl was only 13 years old and as such, was incompetent to give her consent to sexual intercourse or marriage.
“The state cannot be seen by the public to condone such action by letting off the accused under the guise of marriage,” she said, adding that it could set a “harmful” precedent.
Lee pointed to the Oct 15 government green light given to the Attorney-General's Chambers to amend Section 376 of the Penal Code to ensure that those convicted of raping underage girls received the mandatory jail term without the liberty of seeking other legal provisions to mitigate the sentence.
The Government's decision was to address the high incidence of rape cases involving under- age girls and to protect them, Lee said.
“I appeal to all concerned to play their role in stopping abu- sers from manipulating customs and cultures to escape prosecution.”
Sisters in Islam, meanwhile, said Malaysia must address the recent rise in child brides.
ReplyDelete“As reported by Unicef, girls who marry young are more vulnerable to violence and sexual abuse by their partners than those who marry later,” it said.
It also stressed that Muslim and non-Muslim children must not be treated differently.
“It is deplorable that marriage is being used by the accused as a way to escape prosecution.”