‘State govt has no autonomy over immigration’

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Violet Yong

THE state Barisan Nasional government should stop blowing its own trumpet by claiming to have full autonomy over immigration because it is Putrajaya that is running the show, Violet Yong (DAP-Pending) said.

According to her, the Sarawak government is powerless when it concerns immigration autonomy because the state Immigration Department does not have any independent authority over immigration matters.

“What we have here is only administrative rights endorsing what Putrajaya directs the state to do. Secondly, how can we claim we have full immigration autonomy rights when we do not even have the basic data system to capture all the information of the people travelling in or out of the state?

“We absolutely have no idea on the personal details, the number of people, their country of origin or even (the details of) West Malaysians who come here. We are also not sure if we are outnumbered by non-Sarawakians either legal/illegal. When West Malaysians come in droves to work, we are not sure if they enter with work permits or abuse their social visit passes as many of the West Malaysian Petronas workers are in fact using this loophole to work here. Do not pretend you are unaware of this charade,” she said when debating the Head of State’s address.

Yong said if one were to enquire from the state government to produce offhand statistics on the number of foreigners or West Malaysians who are married to locals or the number of legal/illegal foreign workers in Sarawak, one would surely be at a loss.

She said the state government would not be able to furnish the information but instead would have to call Putrajaya and rely on their information which may or not be true.

“By allowing such a situation to continue, do you not realise the danger and threats caused to our own state? Furthermore, though it is the Chief Minister’s Office which gives consent to the approval of entry permits, the final approval of granting Sarawak PR status still lies with Putrajaya.

“So, does the Sarawak government realise the limitation of its power?” she asked.

On application for work permits, Yong said all levies imposed and collected belonged to the federal government and not the state.

“Do you find this is fair and would you still claim you have full autonomous power?” she asked.