KOTA KINABALU: Bersih Sabah 3.0 is calling for a Royal Commission Inquiry into the grant of Malaysian citizenship to foreigners and the presence of illegal immigrants in Sabah.
The Coalition for Free and Fair Elections said the increase in the population in Sabah had been extraordinary since 1970s. The Population Distribution and Basic Demographic Characteristics 2010 report published by the Department of Statistics, Malaysia reveals that more than one in four residents in Sabah is not a Malaysian citizen, or 27.7%.
It said that the situation is much worse when one looks into the population of youths in Sabah.
According to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, there are 1,046,869 Malaysian youths in Sabah in 2010, and 525,218 non-Malaysian youths residing in Malaysia. And this is just the number of detectable migrants. These figures do not include aliens who have obtained their Malaysian citizenships through improper means.
The National Registration Department (NRD) has not released any figures as to how many foreign aliens have been granted citizenship since 1970. However, it is estimated that 600,000 of them are recipients of this ‘Project IC’ and 400,000 of them are eligible to vote, Bersih Sabah 3.0 claimed in a statement yesterday.
“This means the future of Malaysia may be decided by those who are essentially not Malaysians. We, the genuine Malaysians, should be the ones who shall decide the future of our beloved nation.
“The socio-economic impacts are just as severe. The burden on the State and Federal governments is extremely heavy due to the utilisation of public amenities, schools and hospitals by these unaccounted aliens.
“This is why Bersih Sabah 3.0 calls for a Royal Commission.”
According to Bersih Sabah 3.0, there is a unanimous and overwhelming support for the establishment of this Royal Commission. From all sides of political divide, be it Umno, PBS, and UPKO from Barisan Nasional and PKR, DAP and PAS from Pakatan Rakyat, SAPP and STAR as well as NGOs and individuals, the entire Sabah echoes the same call.
In fact, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms headed by Dr Maximus Ongkili reiterated the same.
The situation is Sabah is dire and the Sabahans are unanimous – if our government is sincere about reforms, the Royal Commission must be established now, the coalition added.