KOTA KINABALU: The findings of the Commission of Inquiry on Immigrants in Sabah should be viewed as a new starting point towards effectively addressing issues on the influx of illegal immigrants in the state, said Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan.
“Whatever it is, it’s a starting point, so we look at it from that point of view, and of course the hope is that there will be a follow through,” he said when commenting on the newly released RCI Report which highlighted the existence of syndicates and individuals helping immigrants to unlawfully obtain genuine Malaysian identification cards (IC).
Now that the existence of syndicates and individuals responsible in illegally getting ICs for immigrants has been officially admitted, the enforcement agencies must establish a clear mechanism to stop them.
Stronger security measures must be set in place, including surveillance and intelligence to counter and eradicate the activities of such syndicates and individuals, said Pairin who was named the chairman of the proposed Management Committee on Immigrants to be set up to help address illegal immigrant problems.
“The report says steps has been taken, although it was not spelled out. What we want to see now is better preventative measures taken by all agencies so that officers in relevant departments can no longer break the laws. This must be ensured,” he said.
The 368-page CI Report released to the media on Wednesday before being made available for purchase to the public yesterday, stated that evidence from former NRD officers called to testify before the RCI clearly showed that there was a clandestine exercise involving illegal activities relating to the processing and issuance of ICs to illegal immigrants.
Chief Secretary to the federal government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsah in reading out a summarized version of the report during a media conference said syndicates and individuals, aided by corrupt officials, were behind Project IC.
There was, however, no evidence suggesting political motivation or if the government was sanctioning the unlawful issuance of identification cards to immigrants, he said.
“The government has said it was going to take drastic action; this is what we all are waiting for… what are the drastic actions. Of course, in the first place, it has been admitted that there were syndicates, people, individuals and groups who have done something wrong.
“There are a few steps that we need to take; firstly, to ensure there is no more illegal immigrants coming in, in other words the government must take steps to ensure there is a strong preventative measure in place.
“Even without the setting up of the two committees, we have immigration laws which must be implemented. Therefore, nobody without proper documents should be allowed to come in, because we have enough of them here, we got enough problems.
“Prevention must be one of the steps taken and hopefully with the establishment of ESSCom, ESSZone and all the extra manpower in the security forces, slowly but surely the prevention of illegals coming in can be better assured,” said Pairin.
The RCI in its report recommended a Permanent Secretariat on Immigrants in Sabah be set up.
The secretariat, to be jointly chaired by the Chief Minister and Home Minister, will report to the federal cabinet and will be assisted by the management committee led by Pairin.
Meanwhile, asked if he, as the representative of the people of Sabah, accepted and was satisfied with the long awaited RCI report, Pairin said the issue of illegal immigrants in Sabah was not just a long-standing problem for Sabah but for Malaysia as a country.
“Everyone now knows that there were syndicates who forged ICs, birth certificates, passports; all these syndicates must be given the proper attention by the authorities, otherwise we will continue to have people with false documents who will create problems for Malaysians, particularly Sabah Malaysians,” he said.
As to when the management committee would convene, Pairin said he had yet to receive any letter of appointment to confirm his chairmanship but he would conduct consultations with related parties to discuss the scope and focus of the committee, adding that parties wanting to offer their views and inputs on the matter were welcomed.
“The thing is, the RCI report has came out. This is what everybody has been waiting for. How you view the report, of course, is up to you when you read the contents, but as far as the report is concerned, it is what everybody has been waiting for and it has already been released and it is available to you at RM100 per copy,” he said.