KOTA KINABALU: The proposed issuance of its own identification cards for citizens and non-citizens will help Sabah solve its illegal immigrant problems, in particular the alleged unlawful issuance of citizenship to foreigners in the State.
State Reform Party (STAR) Sabah chairman, Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, in proposing this to the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Illegal Immigrants here, said, the move would ensure that only genuine Sabah citizens are given the Malaysian Identification Card (ICs) and able to vote in elections.
“The Sabah government should implement the issuance of a Sabah IC to all its citizens and a Non-Sabahan resident IC to all Non-citizens residing in Sabah,” he said when testifying at the Inquiry yesterday.
Jeffrey said the “Sabah IC” should involve a mechanism that allows the State government to document the bio-data of all individuals residing in Sabah using the latest biometric security features, under its own jurisdiction and free from the federal power.
He said the ICs issued independently by the State as an addition to that by the federal authority would act as a counter check for immigrants who may have acquired Malaysian citizenship unlawfully in Sabah.
“The Sabah government should also ensure a special feature to identify natives and non-natives in this Sabah IC,” he added.
He also called on the Federal Government to recall and re-issue all the active MyKads and ICs that it has issued and restore the codes for the three geographical regions namely H for Sabah, K for Sarawak and A for Semenanjung.
He argued that this was consistent with the Malaysia Agreement as Sabah and Sarawak have their own State Rights to be respected and honoured.
In order to address the whole illegal immigrant issue effectively, Jeffrey said, the State government must insist on its role and responsibility on citizenship and the Department of National Registration, because a Federal citizen does not mean that the Malaysian individual is also a Sabah citizen.
The state, he added, must be allowed take full responsibility of its rights and duties on state immigration, as provided for under the 20 Points, Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) and the Malaysia Agreement 1963 documents.
He also suggested that Sabah must be given more freedom and authority in ensuring its security.
“Although national security is a Federal matter, the Sabah government has a stake and a responsibility on state security. In fact, as evidenced by the various testimonies in the hearing, the Sulu intrusions, etc, the Federal government has failed in its responsibility to make Sabah secure,” he said.
He proposed that the state establish its own agencies under a Sabah Homeland Security Ministry, for administering immigration, citizenship, foreign labour and security matters.
At the same time, he also called on all revenues from immigration, in particular, foreign labour and ICs issuance, to be collected by the state as state revenues.
He elaborated that there are presently about a million foreign workers in Sabah and based on this, the state can collect at least RM1.4 billion in yearly revenues.
“I also propose that the State government in Sabah be called Sabah government and not state government, to avoid confusing with Semenanjung states governments and to respect the status of Sabah as well as Sarawak as independent countries and equal partners of Malaya in forming the Federal government of Malaysia.
“The Federal government of Malaysia, Sarawak government and the Sabah government should sit down together and discuss the reactivation of the IGC as an important mechanism to resolve Federal-State problems and issues that are relevant only to Sabah and Sarawak, including the issue of immigration.
“Let this committee formulate policies that affect the rights of Sabah and Sarawak as per the 20 Points, IGC referendum and the Malaysia Agreement 1963,” he stressed.
He also called for the establishment of a non-partisan Sabah Homeland Security Commission immediately after the RCI has completed its inquiry.
The Commission, he said, should be responsible for formulating policies and action plans to resolve the problems related to illegal immigrants, the issuance of Sabah IC and the establishment of the Ministry of Homeland Security.
Solutions to be taken must take into account key issues, namely, the dependency of Sabah’s economy on foreign labour, the need for setting in place and enforcing sufficient laws for managing immigrants, and the responsibility to punish the culprits behind the illegal immigrants problem in Sabah.