Let RCI do its job first – Masidi

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KOTA KINABALU: The Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants in the state should be given the benefit of the doubt, otherwise the request for the RCI will be an exercise in futility.

Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said when speaking to reporters at the fast breaking hosted by his ministry at Le Meridien Hotel here on Wednesday.

“My personal view is that there is no shortcut to citizenship. That is exactly why the RCI is going to be set up in the first place, because the people are not happy with the population explosion, which is rather alarming compared to other states.

“Give the RCI the benefit of the doubt; otherwise if we start undermining their credibility now, there will be nobody to believe or … our request for the RCI will be an exercise in futility. I think we should give them a chance and comment after they have done their job,” said Masidi.

He was commenting on a recent statement by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who allegedly defended the increase in the number of migrants in Sabah, pointing out that they qualified to be citizens because they had been staying in Malaysia for decades and spoke Bahasa Malaysia.

Last Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said he would announce the details of the much-awaited RCI when he visits Sabah this Saturday.

According to statistics provided in parliament last year, Sabah’s population numbered 651,304 in 1970, and 929,299 a decade later. But in the two decades following 1980, the state population rose significantly by a staggering 1.5 million people, reaching 2,468,246 by 2000.

Unconfirmed media reports have stated that as of 2012, this number had grown further to 3.12 million.

Masidi stressed what was important was that the law must be respected and the provisions of the law must be fully adhered to in granting citizenship.

He believed the RCI’s terms of reference would include tackling issues on the claims that people in possession of citizenship may be doubtful.

“If there are people who have satisfied all the requirements to qualify him as a citizen, we accept it. It is not only practised in Malaysia but other countries are having similar laws.

“For example, if we stay in Indonesia for a certain time, we too are eligible to apply for citizenship,” he added.