OPPOSITION strongman, Jeffrey Kitingan has accused Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein of fudging the issue of Filipino refugees in Sabah.
He said Hishammuddin gave a “non answer” in Parliament last week in his response to Kota Kinabalu MP Hiew King Cheu, who asked why the government was issuing the MyKad to the refugees.
Hishammuddin’s curt response to Hiew was to give the stock government reply; that only those qualified under the Federal Constitution are provided with Malaysian personal documents. He cited Article 78 of the National Registration Act 1959.
“He did not really address the issue,” said Jeffrey. “Locals know these people. They go around flashing their MyKads. This is like rubbing it in our faces.”
He pointed out that possession of a MyKad denoted Malaysian citizenship status and that not everyone, even if born in Malaysia, was eligible for it.
The bottom line is that when a Filipino refugee gets a MyKad without the need to go through the citizenship process like other foreigners, according to Jeffrey, “he or she automatically also enters the category of instant natives.” It would then be easier for these refugees to acquire native land and political power at the expense of locals.
Jeffrey said he was putting the home ministry and federal government on notice that the law prohibited the issuing of Malaysian personal documents to any foreigner in Sabah without the express consent of the state government.
“The question is whether foreigners in Sabah are becoming Malaysians with the consent of the state government,” he said. “If not, the state government has the right under the special provisions for East Malaysia in the Immigration Act to effect the removal of such persons to Peninsular Malaysia.”
Jeffrey, who is a PKR vice-president and chairman of CigMA (Common Interest Group Malaysia), suspects that the state government is being kept in the dark about the issuing of MyKads to foreigners. He said this could be because Umno was spearheading the state administration “or it could also be a case of local leaders not speaking up when it comes to state rights for fear of losing out personally.”
Why dumped in Sabah?
He added: “We would like to urge the federal government to stop the continued issuance of the IMM 13 document to refugees and their children. Instead, efforts should be made to repatriate these people back to the southern Philippines.”
Those sheltering under the IMM 13 category were in fact illegal immigrants given Malaysia’s non-recognition of the refugee category, he said.
Malaysia has ratified neither the 1952 Geneva Convention on Refugees nor the 1967 Protocol.Bestowing Malaysian citizenship status on refugees would be the height of irony, Jeffrey said, given that about 30,000 Sabahans are not Malaysians. Furthermore there are several thousand stateless people in the interior among the natives and an even bigger number wrestling with late birth registrations.
Jeffrey asked Hishammuddin to reveal whether any refugee on the peninsula had been granted the MyKad. He saw no reason why the Filipino refugees should be dumped on Sabah when those in a similar plight in Peninsular Malaysia, from Myanmar and elsewhere, were languishing in a legal twilight zone, “where they are not even allowed to work, unlike in Sabah.”
He suspects the Filipino refugees are being used to play an important role in “the re-colonisation of the state by the federal government,” which he said started in 1963. CigMA is pledged to reverse “the re-colonisation”.
He welcomed Hishammuddin’s statement that the granting of citizenship will be speeded up in a process that is not expected to exceed two years. “However, it must be stressed that Filipino refugees are not qualified for citizenship,” reiterated Jeffrey. “Perhaps this is why they are simply being issued with MyKads without going through the normal process for foreigners.”
Estimates vary, but one official figure places the number of Filipino refugees in Sabah at between 57,500 and 70,500.
By :JOE FERNANDEZ
PTI issues have been in the air for ages. Jeffrey, you're late.
ReplyDeleteWhatever the method do we have to solving the problem, let us used it and see how effective to the matters...
ReplyDeleteWhy is the Federal Government issuing MyKad to the PATI here? Without Sabah and Sabahans agreement.
ReplyDeletethe government according to the Home Ministry, is now on going study about the period time to process the citizenship applications. with this effort, ONLY the eligible applicant should be given the citizenship through the security process etc....this can make our citizenship system improve...however the study should be conduct professionally and holistic to make sure no error while giving out the citizenship to the applicant.....
ReplyDeleteyou attack him with solutions is much better than you attack him with questions.
ReplyDeleteIf you know so many refugees in Sabah why not arrest them? you saw the refugees in front of your eyes, so do not wasting time having a debate with him.
ReplyDeleteNow Sabahan need to plays their own role.. No renting houses or rooms to Pilaks... no job issuing to them.. do not buy anything from them... Please!
ReplyDeleteyes...what we need is an action...not just by talking here talking there...2718 was right...hopefully there's an effective methods to the matters once and for all....
ReplyDeleteHow much more complicated can this be. Please Sabah lay out your own rules. Don't give in to them otherwise disaster coming in..
ReplyDeleteThey are avoiding the real main questions. I hope there are much more effective methods to solved this matters.
ReplyDeleteyayaya... semua ni dekat ppilihan raya baru nampak batang hidung menteri-menteri ni.
ReplyDeleteElection is just around the corner. No wonder everybody is barking and howling..fffuuuuu~
ReplyDeleteMasing2 la kunun mau tunjuk hero.. mentang2 lah dekat sudah next GE.. cehh!!!
ReplyDeleteTrue LoveyDovey.. Tapi kasi biar ja la ba si DJK ni.. dia pun mau campur tangan kunu, so bagi can la... hehee
ReplyDeleteEntahlah roxy... Hanya Federal Government ja yg tau sebab utama tu.. Apapun, saya harap hal ni jgnlah memburukkan lagi keadaan di Sabah. huhuhu
ReplyDeleteSaya sokong idea ko Nicole Tasha...
ReplyDeleteSekarang ni kita yg patut mainkan peranan utama.. Jgn la kasi sewa rumah kamurang sama pilaks bah.. Kalau mau beli makanan pun, tolonglah sokong pengusaha tempatan.. Pas tu paling penting janganlah pula kasi jadi pilaks yg takda sebarang dokumen kamu punya kekasih gelap.. hehhee
Kalau kita tegas dalam hal ni. konpom masalah pati dapat dikurangkan biarpun sikit :)
Moist & Boten_Trish, biasalah tu..
ReplyDeleteNi baru bunga2 ni.. tengaok ja la nanti - makin lama makin rancak gimik politik tu nanti.. hehee
Apapun saya harap semuanya berakhir dgn baik. Selesaikanlah masalah yg timbul secepat mungkin supya rakyat akan terus mempercayai kewibawaan kerajaan.
masalah PATI ni telah menjadi kanser sosial di Sabah...oleh itu langkah2 yang dibentuk haruslah dijamin berkesan dan dapat dilaksanakan supaya ni isu dapat diatasi....
ReplyDeleteJanganlah disebabkan oleh IMM 13 sesuka hati memberi perlindungan kepada rakyat Filipina kerana ia dilihat akan menimbulkan kesan mendalam terhadap kependudukan Sabah. Sampai bila-bila pun isu rakyat Filipina di Sabah tidak akan dapat diselesaikan dan sebenarnya ramai yang berada di negeri ini tanpa pengenalan diri yang sah. Ada yang tidak ingin pulang di Filipina kerana sudah selesa di sini dan lahir di sini....Rakyat Sabah sudah serik berkongsi segala kemudahan awam seperti hospital, klinik dan sekolah dengan warga asing yang merempat di Sabah. Cuma saya lihat belas kasihan tidak wajar lagi diketengahkan sebagai isu IMM 13 ni......sedangkan rakyat Sabah sendiri terpinggir!
ReplyDeletesabahan asli kini seperti pelarian di tanah sendiri...takut2 nti jd mcm di Asia Barat di mana penduduk asal pula yang kena halau dari tanah diorang...bagi mengelak perkara ini, satu langkah yang drastik, efektif, dan mampu dilakukan harus dibentuk segera...jika dibiarkan berlarutan, nescaya kekecohan dan huru hara akan berlaku...diharapkan kajian yang dijalankan oleh Kementerian Dalam Negeri boleh menyediakan langkah2 pencegahan yang seterusnya akan diterjemaahkan dalam bentuk tindakan yang benar2 jujur, amanah, ikhlas sepadan dengan "RAKYAT DIDAHULUKAN, PENCAPAIAN DIUTAMAKAN" kerana rakyat Sabah kini tidak lagi selamat di tanah air sendiri.
ReplyDeleteWhat the federal is doing is like adding oil to fire. The PTI problems in Sabah is bad enough as it is, issuing citizenship to them is the final straw.
ReplyDeletelangkah2 mengatasi masalah harus dilaksanakan segera...ini adalah perlu untuk jaminan keselamatan, hak dan sebagainya kepada rakyat sabah yang kini semakin tertekan berhubung dengan masalah penduduk haram..
ReplyDeleteI remember that Malaysia never sign any treaty which consist the 1952 Geneva Convention on Refugees nor the 1967 Protocol with UN to accept refugees. Since when? I suggest the State Govt to stop giving out citizenship to unqualified foreigners. Otherwise, our own people will be swarm by "new Malaysians"..
ReplyDeleteBetween 57,500 and 70,500? My friend, it's more than that..Sabah is now a breeding ground for "cockroaches"...don't believe me? you can check every nook and cranny around Sabah.
the citizenship should be giving out just for the qualified applicants.. perlu ada satu dasar bagi menyelesaikan isu pendatang haram yang tiba2 menjadi rakyat Sabah tanpa mengambil kira isu keselamatan negara...no more Mr. Nice Guy...
ReplyDeletejika malaysia tidak pernah bersetuju dengan Geneva Convention pasal ni PATI, mengapa perlu kerajaan memberikan hak seperti rakyat asal sabah (kewarganegaraan?? PATI kini di sabah umpama 'Sabah PATI punya'...rakyat sabah seolah2 pelarian di negeri sendiri...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/news_lite.php?id=495442
ReplyDeletethe link above was about the special laboratory on the management of foreigners in that been launched yesterday...kindly read it...