Illegal issuance of blue ICs financially motivated — RCI

0

KOTA KINABALU: The Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants in Sabah found that the unlawful issuance of blue identity cards (IC) to illegal immigrants in the state was financially motivated.

Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa said the RCI investigation did not find the issuance of the ICs purportedly under ‘Projek IC’ to be politically motivated.

“The RCI found that the government had taken action against those who had illegally issued the IC and other identification documents.

“This clearly shows that the ‘Projek IC’ issue does not arise,” he told a media conference here yesterday.

Ali said the commission had noted the probable existence of ‘Projek IC’ but merely based it on the testimony of five witnesses who had not been cross-examined.

They were also former officers and staff of the National Registration Department (NRD) in Sabah, who had previously been detained under the Internal Security Act 1960 for their involvement in the illegal issuance of the ICs, he said.

He said the commission also found no indication that the NRD had committed any wrong under the National Registration Rules 1972 in its IC application and issuance processes.

“The only wrong thing is the applicant’s abuse of the procedure by providing misleading personal information and this information is then certified by the village head or relevant authority.

“The commission found that these statutory declarations or certificates had actually facilitated the abuse,” he said.

On non-citizens who had registered as voters, Ali said based on the testimonies throughout the inquiry, the commission was unable to determine the exact number involved. — Bernama