Yong: In the matter of the Royal Commission on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah

Witness Statement by Yong Teck Lee

Immigration is an emotive issue. Many countries are still caught in this quagmire. In the case of Sabah, we are compounded by racial and religious prejudices. Many Malaysians view the illegal immigrant issue through racial and religious lenses.

There is real, genuine agony, fear and frustration among local Sabahans, especially KDM natives, who feel that their Sabah homeland is being taken over by immigrants with the connivance of the (Malay) federal government.

Increasingly, murmurs of SSKM are heard. The sense of loss and marginalisation among young Sabahans, loss of land, economic deprivation, failure in education, exclusion from the civil service and fearful of loss of cultural identity fuel this SSKM feeling. If there is no solution to the illegals issue, then SSKM (Sabah Sarawak Keluar Malaysia) might gain momentum and pose a serious threat to Malaysia. The federal government must be made to realise this.

"Project IC" and "Project M"?

It is unhelpful that the names "Project IC" and "Project M" have been thrown around. The term "Project IC" or "Project M" is a misnomer that has entered the public consciousness. But the terms "Project IC and Project M" do not exist in government official documents because these are not government "Project" or "Policy". Hence, if an MP asks in Parliament, the official reply from the Minister, based on his official departmental records, would be that there is no "Project IC" or "Project M". But if the debate is on the general issue of citizenships, fake ICs and other dubious documents, then the Minister cannot deny. In a way, the misnomers "Project IC" and "Project M" have made it possible for the government to officially deny its existence. As an illustration, "Project IC" and "Project M" are not even mentioned among the 8 terms of reference of this RCI - although these terms have been in the public domain for more than 20 years.

Introduction

I started research on the issue of illegal immigrants in 1989. At the time, I was PBS deputy information chief and a Sabah Assistant Minister.

I chaired the PBS Electoral Rolls Committee. IDS did most of the research, data collection and analysis and checking the electoral rolls. At the time, the Election Commission Secretary (Datuk Rashid) had notoriously claimed that talk of "phantom voters" and "duplicate and triplicate voters" in the rolls was "coffee shop talk".

IDS input electors data and compared voters with same IC numbers. About 30,000 electors in the rolls had their IC numbers duplicated or triplicated (meaning one IC number is shared by two or three persons in the rolls). This proved that the Election Commission was wrong.

In 1994, I left PBS and was a founder member of SAPP. In negotiations with BN leaders at the time, led by Anwar Ibrahim, a key Sabah issue to be resolved was the illegal immigrants problem. When this and other issues were agreed to, SAPP joined BN. Later in May, SAPP became part of the BN Sabah State Government.

Actions taken by the government on the Illegal Immigrants problem, 1995 to 1998

In 1995 and 1996, a police operation was launched to resolve the illegal immigrants issue. Under the Chief Ministership of Datuk Salleh Tun Said, "rumah merah" (temporary detention centres for illegals) were built with land being allocated by the Sabah government. The PCK (Pengarah Cawangan Khas) (Dato Norian Mai - later became IGP) told me that the police was serious in solving the illegals issue. At about the same time, many leaders and operatives of the "IC syndicates" (Abjan Ali, Samsul Alang, Jabar Khan and others) were detained under the ISA.

It was known that as a result of these police actions, many of the operatives went back to their home countries. Others, presumably, lied low. There were no more reports of ICs being issued under "Project IC/M". (It seems to have resurfaced in recent years under different guises).

Regularisation Programme 1996/1997

From 1996 to 1997, the Regularisation Programme under the National Security Council was launched. Basically, the Regularisation Prog was to enable the government to have an effective control on illegal immigrants and at the same time to make it unnecessary for foreign workers to acquire illegal ICs. On the one hand, legitimate foreign workers were regularised. On the other hand, illegal immigrants were expelled.

"Rumah merah" were put into operation. Military resources and logistics were deployed to deport illegals. Many tens of thousands were deported or left voluntarily. In order to avoid detention at "rumah merah", many illegals simply went back to their home countries. The Federal Special Task Force (FSTF) in Sabah co-ordinated the actions. According to the FSTF in August 1997

(Regularisation Prog figures) :

Employers of Foreign Workers 30,033
Foreign Workers 226,565 Dependents 187,267, 
Illegal immigrants (to be deported) 140,028 Total: 553,860.
This is consistent with the earlier estimates that there were about 600,000 non-citizens in Sabah.

Only nationals of Indonesia and the Philippines were allowed as foreign workers. Workers from the Indian sub-continent were only allowed to work at mamak eateries (6 workers per mamak shop).

To make the process cheaper, the Philippine embassy officials were given special exemption by the Malaysian government to issue passports to their nationals in Sabah. Indonesian nationals were issued passports by the consulates in KK and Tawau. There was no need to return to their home countries to get their passports, hence making it cheaper and faster. The economic incentive to purchase fake documents was removed. The main complaint from local employers was the issue of levies. This was subsequently reduced by the federal government.

It is relevant that the Director General of MKN was the former Director of the Sabah FSTF (Datuk Jaafar) and the KSU of Home Affairs Ministry was the former Sabah Federal Secretary (Datuk Samsuddin Osman) both of whom had firsthand knowledge of Sabah. The Sabah Security Committee chaired by me as CM was very active at the time.

Types of problematic ICs

Broadly, my view is that there are 3 categories of documents (My Kads, IMM13, IC receipts etc..):

1. Foreigners who entered Sabah legally, stayed for a number of years and applied for Malaysian citizenships stating the true facts - and were granted citizenships by the Federal government. Their My kads would show "-71-" or other digits to show foreign origin. These are not yet Sabahans unless they are granted Sabah permanent residency by the Sabah State Government.

2. Foreigners who entered Sabah legally or illegally and applied for citizenship BUT using false declarations - often based on Sijil Akuan - like place of birth (in Sabah) instead of overseas - hence their My Kad has digit "-12-" indicating they are of Sabah origin, when in fact they are not. These My Kads are obtained through fraudulent means. The law on such documents (like university degrees and land titles) is very clear - they are invalid and illegal.

3. Foreigners who possess fake documents, not issued by the NRD. These are simply fake documents; not the real problem because these will be weeded out eventually.

Solutions:

I strongly disagree that the illegal immigration and so-called project IC/M issue cannot be solved. Difficult, yes. Impossible, no. Not impossible because there are viable solutions by tackling the root causes: The Push and Pull factors of immigration, the regional and historical context, the government exercising political will.

First of all there must be political will. The people have high hopes on the RCI.
The issue must also be depoliticised.

This is because once an issue is politicised, the government, political parties and people take a partisan stand point. People lose sight of the real issue, namely nation building as Malaysians and national interests defined as upholding the Constitution and the spirit and letter of the formation of Malaysia.

Remove racial and religious prejudices from the issue

It is no accident that the "PTI" issue is raised mainly by non-Muslim groups and politicians. But UMNO, PAS, Malay leaders in PKR and Muslim NGOs generally shy away from this subject. Racial and religious prejudices are relevant. In Malaysia, the mindset of Ketuanan Melayu is dominant. Datuk Harris in the book "Harris Salleh of Sabah" by Paul Raffaele 1986, made it plain and simple at p. 425:

"The Kadazans will become like the Sikhs are now in India, a race forever under suspicion by the majority race." "That's because there is no doubt that Sabah is moving towards being dominated by the Muslims who already make up more than 50% of the population.
It all depends on how fast the process continues. Remember, we have nearly 300,000 Filipino and Indonesian refugees and workers here in Sabah and will become eligible for citizenship." "For instance, the federal government can register any of the refugees, in three hours, three days, three months or three years. There is no law stating the time and if the federal government wanted to alter forever the voting patterns of Sabah, then it can do it as easily as signing the papers."

This view of Harris is corroborated by one Hassnar Ibrahim who spoke of secret meeting with Harris and Megat Junid to issue citizenship documents to foreigners. Instead of promoting a Malaysian nationalist identity, Malaysia is still grappling with an identity crisis.

On the other hand, this prejudice is also mirrored by some non-Muslim groups who tend to view all immigrants with suspicion. For example, there is a Pakistani Sabahan family in Tawau who has been in Sabah for more than 100 years but they are still wrongly viewed as "Project IC" Malaysians just because of their looks.

Due to their racial prejudice, the DAP even libellously labelled a Kadazan road side hawker as an illegal immigrant and an Sabahan Indian Muslim leader as "Project IC". This is a sad state of affairs that cut both ways.

Native Suluks and local Bugis who have been in Sabah for generations and local Pakistanis who came with the British in the 1880s, are all mistakenly lumped as "project IC/M" recipients - and they bear the stigma of suspicion. In return, Suluks call the Chinese immigrants as well; ignoring the fact that the ethnic Chinese are rightful citizens in every as aspect of the constitution and rule of law.

Hence, it is my strongly held view that the issue of illegal immigration and citizenship must be detached from racial and religious considerations.

Regional and international solution, BIMP-EAGA

The federal government was supportive and sympathetic of Sabah's resolve to overcome the issue of illegals. The Prime Minister (Dr. Mahathir) and MKN approved and facilitated an unprecedented meeting between the Sabah cabinet ministers with President Ramos in Davao. In view of Philippines's Sabah Claim, meetings (even visits) of Sabah officials with Philippine officials were before that prohibited.

Bilateral meetings between the Governor of ARMM (Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao) (Nur Misuari) and his chief of staff (Muslim Osmena) were held with Sabah Chief Minister (myself) and the D-G of MKN (Datuk Jaafar).

The underlying objective was to give fruition to Ramos's vision of a peaceful, prosperous BIMP-EAGA. Ramos's vision fits into Dr. Mahathir's "smart partnership" and "prosper thy neighbour" concepts. On the Indonesian side, President Suharto was fully committed to support a sustainable peace deal in Mindanao - this was openly stated by Nur Misuari at his "turning over" (swearing in) ceremony as Governor of ARMM in Sept. 1996 which I attended.

ARMM at the time expressed a long term solution to the "problems of the south (Mindanao)" and to welcome back refugees and other migrants who have gone to Malaysia (Sabah). Nur Misuari wanted these refugees to return to help develop their now autonomous home land.

Discussions were held with ARMM on land resettlement and fishery development along the lines of SLDB/FELDA and Ko-Nelayan/SAFMA to improve the lives of the people there.

But there was strong suspicion that Manila practices a silent ethnic cleansing of Moros (Muslims) from Mindanao. If Sabah sees the immigration of Moros (Muslims) as a problem, Manila sees the emigration (exit) of the same Moros as a blessing. A persistent hindrance to the return of Filipino migrants to the Philippines is the loss of their ancestral lands due to land grabs by "Northerners". They have no land to return to.

Similarly, Kalimantan and Sulawesi were factored in to bring about a prosperous region of 50 million people. Except for Brunei, all the national capitals (KL, Manila, Jakarta) had problems dealing with these "far flung poor provinces".

If BIMP-EAGA regional peace and prosperity and the Regularisation Prog had been successfully followed up, then the illegal immigrant problems still plaguing Sabah would have been mitigated to a large extent.

BIMP-EAGA success would have removed the "Push factor" of illegals emigrating from the Philippines and Indonesia to Sabah. And the Regularisation Prog would have removed the "Pull factor" of illegals immigrating into Sabah.

Sadly, these regional efforts were derailed by the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997/98. Suharto was toppled and Indonesia was in chaos, even losing East Timor in the process. Malaysia was also caught in economic crisis and "reformasi". Ramos ended his term as President. The new President, Estrada, was openly unsympathetic to the peace deal between Manila and the Southern Philippines, stepping up military operations against both the MNLF and MILF, instead of pursuing peaceful means. The rest is history.

Sometimes, we forget these defining events. Context is important. We need to handle the issue of illegals in Sabah in the regional and historical context.

Reverse flow of immigrants

There are clear examples of reverses flow of immigrants as a result of a change in policies of nations and in regional socio-economic development. Given the right conditions, it is probable that many immigrants will leave Sabah/Malaysia and return to their home countries.

For instance, the USA invests heavily in Mexico under NAFTA (North America Free Trade Area), with the effects of stemming the influx of illegals into the USA. In Southern China of the 1960s, illegals took high risks to avoid British Gurkhas and swam from Shenzhen across the border to Hong Kong. Today, as a result of socio-economic and political changes, it is HK people who move to Shenzhen. Vietnamese who migrated to the USA, some as "boat people" via Malaysia, are returning to a prospering Vietnam. These are examples of reverse immigration.

As for Malaysia, it is estimated that more than one million Chinese Malaysians have emigrated to other English-speaking countries and recently to HK and China. There is no compulsion, no force, no threat of violence. This is voluntarily choosing a new permanent place of abode. I find that some people feel awkward when I talk like this. But this is how I feel.

In the case of Sabah, there are many "ex-Malaysians" who have returned to Mindanao and Kalimantan. I visited Nunukan, Tarakan, Balikpapan and Zamboangan and Jolo. I came across Malay-speaking ex-Malaysians. They told me that they have returned home.

Kalimantan is opening up one million hectares of oil palm plantations, which will attract back many Indonesians from Sabah because Kalimantan offers better pay and conditions. Workers do not have to pay levies and face harassment from Malaysian authorities.

In the case of the Southern Philippines, there is still civil conflict. The Philippines Gov't/MILF peace treaty (brokered by Malaysia) is not likely to succeed because of vested interests in Manila and Mindanao want to perpetuate the civil war with the Moros. This is my considered opinion. To bring sustainable long term peace and stability in Southern Philippines, the USA, Malaysia and ASEAN must exert extreme pressure on the Philippines. There are many leverages that Malaysia can use against the Philippines: in OIC, in ASEAN, in trade and security, in dealing with China. But Malaysia is too nice with the Philippines.

If the immigrants, who although they hold citizenship documents, return to their home countries, then their citizenship documents become redundant.

Some specific proposals 

As contained in the August 1999 Memorandum "Mother of All threats", the 14-point proposals in the October 2006 "Time For Direct
Preventive Actions", a summary of the specific proposals are:

1. Automated Immigrant Identification System
2. Concerted deportation and strict penalties to deter re-entry
3. Strict enforcement of laws, including on illegal squatter settlements, drug trafficking and related illegal activities,
4. Law enforcement agencies be allocated sufficient resources, manpower and logistics
5. Continuing efforts to smash IC syndicates, human trafficking, including locals who collude with illegal immigration,
6. Use of military logistics and resources, including intelligence gathering
7. Use more of RELA and reservists
8. Malaysian Consulate in Zamboanga and Balikpapan or Tarakan
9. Philippine Consulate in Sabah
10. Inbound visitors via ferries to pay a bond (eg. RM500) to guarantee their departure,
11. Inbound visitors via ferries must have proof or return ticket,
12. Prosecute officers involved in issuing citizenship documents to unqualified citizens but may consider amnesty for those who provide evidence of past abuses,
13. Actively combat corruption and abuses of power among enforcement personnel involved.
No doubt, if there is political will, many more creative solutions can be formulated.

Immigration - The Constitution and the Malaysia Agreement 

Rukun Negara - Upholding the Rule of Law - nobody is above the law - much less illegal immigrants who got their citizenship papers through fraudulent means.

Malaysia as a modern nation is based on the Malaysia Agreement 1963, the Inter-Governmental Committee Report 1962 and the Cobbold Commission Report 1962.

Clause VIII of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 stipulated that Chapter III of the IGC Report shall be implemented . This expressly includes para. 16 "Immigration" into the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak.

Therefore, it is unconstitutional and in breach of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and therefore null and void, for the Malaysian Federal government to grant Sabahan status to new citizens.

I am referring to the "-12-" digit My Kad and any other citizenship documents issued by the Federal Government to foreigners. The federal government may award citizenships to any number of foreigners in Malaya; that is their power. But the federal government has no power to grant citizenships to foreigners and make them Sabahans. Only Sabah has the power to grant Sabahan status to other Malaysians.

Failure to respect, honour and accept the spirit and letter of the formation of Malaysia will jeopardise the existence of Malaysia. This has become more pressing with the Sulu claim now reaching the international arena. It does not matter that Malaysia does not recognise the Philippine Claim on Sabah. But it really matters that Malaysia does not respect, honour and accept the Malaysia Agreement.

Sabah IC

Sabah can practise self-help - we can issue Sabah ICs to genuine Malaysians in Sabah - and enforce the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

Sabah may pass a new ordinance to issue Sabah ICs to genuine Malaysians in sabah. Original Sabahans are those persons and their descendents who were in Sabah (North Borneo) on 31 August 1963 and became automatic citizens under the terms of the Malaysia Agreement. All other Malaysians have to apply to become Sabahans. KL has no power to grant Sabahan status.

The proposed Sabah ICs is not a new citizenship document - it is for use in Sabah, for immigration, for land, for civil service, for licensing and other government purposes. At first, there will be restraints to the Sabah IC idea, but I am confident that it will eventually be accepted by everybody.

Sarawak has zero illegal immigrant. Does Federal Government dare to issue "-13-" digit My Kad to non-Sarawakians? The Sarawakian government will reject those My Kads and turn back these fake Sarawakians at its borders. Of Sarawak can defend its rights, why not Sabah? This is what we call autonomy for Sabah and Sarawak in the federation of Malaysia.

Yong Teck Lee, age 54, born Lahad Datu, residing in Kota Kinabalu.
Ex-Chief Minister of Sabah/Chairman of Sabah State Security Committee from 28 May 1996 to 27 May 1998, Assemblyman from 1985 to 2011, MP 1999 to 2010
Member of National Economic Action Council (during the Asian Financial Crisis 1997 - 98)