Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal arriving at the State Assembly hall for the third day of the assembly sitting yesterday. Also seen are Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Local Government and Housing Datuk Haji Dr Jaujan Sambakong (right) and Minister of Infrastructure Development Datuk Peter Anthony (second right).
KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal reiterated that the state government has no power to issue MyKad to illegal immigrants.
He said only agencies under the federal government have the authority to do so.
He said the Sabah government, led by Parti Warisan Sabah, has never been involved in issuing citizenship to illegal immigrants.
“We never issue any citizenship to illegal immigrants, and all allegations about us issuing MyKad to the illegal immigrants are untrue.
“The state government has been very strict on this issue, and we have been working closely with the security forces to address this issue, including efforts to send those who were arrested by our security forces back to their country,” he said.
Shafie was responding to an additional question by Datuk Joniston Bangkuai (PBS-Kiulu) at the state assembly yesterday, who wanted to know how is security control in the state.
To a question from Tan Sri Musa Aman (Umno-Sungai Sibuga) whether the state government is sending back illegal immigrants in Rumah Merah (temporary detention centres for illegals) to their respective countries like the previous government did, Shafie said that the government is still sending them back although the cost is high.
He said sending illegal immigrants to their respective countries is costly, and the government is looking forward to work with relevant authorities from the other side to solve the issue.
As for skilled Philippine and Indonesian workers, he said the state government is looking for options like giving work permit fof them to work in the plantation sector.
Earlier, Shafie said security in Sabah is under control through existing cooperation between Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) and other enforcement and security agencies.
He said that in response to a question from Datuk Jeffrey G. Kitingan (STAR-Tambunan) on the position of Sabah security following the arrest of 12 Filipinos by police for alleged involvement in militant activities in Semporna.
He added the security forces are always conducting continuous operations on militant elements.
“As we all know, the security issues in Sabah have been influenced by conflicts in the southern Philippines, where it will give an impact to us because it resulted in an influx of Filipinos fleeing to Sabah.
“However, ESSCom will prevent them from entering our land, and we are looking at smart mechanism, placing them in islands near the Philippines border so that they are not coming to Sabah land,” he said.
Shafie added intelligence exchange has been always made, apart from security patrolling on a regular basis around the Philippines and Indonesia borders.