AN opposition member yesterday called on Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem to pressure Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate whether corruption was involved in the entry of illegal immigrants into the state over the years.
Violet Yong (DAP-Pending) said that the State Immigration Department was inefficient and had done nothing to prevent the Suluks and Bajaus who entered the state illegally.
She said the director Datu Robert Lian had revealed how these people came and even knew that they were
armed.
However, despite knowing the situation the department did nothing about it and this raised the suspicion of corruption among immigration officers.
“It shocked me to the core when I read what the Immigration director spoke lightly to the press of the situation about the Suluks and Bajaus who entered Sarawak illegal since two years ago.
“In his interview recently with the Chinese press, the director said these Suluk and Bajaus people came to Sarawak for a living ‘cari makan’ and had contacted their families and friends to come over too”.
“He (Lian) said some of the Suluks use MasWings to fly in from Lawas to reach Miri without going through the immigration checkpoint. I am baffled that the director even knew how they entered Sarawak but the influx of illegal immigrants continues,” she said.
She was participating in the debate on motion of thanks to the Governor’s address during the opening of the current State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting.
“How could the Immigration Department officers at the airport turn away their faces when the Suluks and Bajaus walked through the check point at Miri Airport? Why was there no instant detention?” she questioned.
Yong told the august House that the director had even allowed plantation companies to bring in illegal Indonesian workers and that she had the relevant documents to support her claim.