No compromise over Sarawak’s immigration ruling, says STAR

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Lina Soo

KUCHING: State Reform Party (STAR) is appalled at Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg’s proposal to ease immigration rulings for Sabahans to enter Sarawak.

President Lina Soo said Sarawak should learn from the Sabah situation where under Project IC, the local population had been swamped by ‘pendatang tanpa izin’ (PTI – illegal immigrants) .

“Easing entry conditions for Sabahans to come in is to allow the PTI to enter Sarawak without restraint,” she said in a statement today.

Soo believed that all Sarawakians would rise against this “preposterous” policy were it to be approved by the Sarawak government.

She alleged that already it could be observed that there were hundreds of foreign Project IC holders of Sabah code 12 now freely doing businesses in towns all over Sarawak, including selling carpets and mattresses.

Immigration and entry into Sarawak, she said, is Sarawak’s autonomous power which was agreed upon during the negotiations for the formation of the Federation of Malaysian.

She added that such right was also inked in the Inter-Governmental Report 1962, Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and Federal Constitution.

As such, she called upon the Sarawak government to revert to 1963 ,where passports had to be produced by non-Sarawakians upon entering the state’s borders.

Sarawak, Sabah and the Federation of Malaya are three nations forming the Federation of Malaysia, she stressed.

“It is an infringement upon our Sarawak territorial integrity to allow non-Sarawakians to enter without a passport. If the Sarawak government is scared even to revive the passport ruling which was our original policy, how can they claim their efficacy to assert our Sarawak rights?”

Soo asserted that there must be no compromise over Sarawak’s immigration rights.