I refer to the Malaysiakini report Gov't to launch massive ops against illegals in Sabah .

The recent announcement by the Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak comes as no surprise to us. Whenever there is a slow down of the economy or when the political power of the ruling government is threatened, the BN government becomes repressive towards the most vulnerable and voiceless group in the country.

These are the refugees and undocumented workers who are referred to as ‘illegal immigrants’.

The government of the day has also been successful in instilling a racist perspective in that immigrants are ‘a threat’ to security and are the people who are the criminals in our society. Through its control over the media, it has brought about a xenophobic situation in Sabah.

The fear is that the immigrants will control Sabah both economically and politically. The ‘real’ Sabahans will be submerged and thus will lose control over the state.

Being typically Malaysians, we tend to forget history and political manipulations easily. The Filipino refugees were welcomed into Sabah by Tun Mustafa, the then chief minister, in the 70s. Being a Suluk himself, he allowed in refugees from Mindanao and the Sulu islands at the peak of the battle between the Moro Liberation movement and Marcos’ martial law and dictatorship.

But Tun Mustafa had a hidden agenda. He feared that the increased conversion of the indigenous peoples by Christian missionaries will lead to a higher number of Christians in Sabah. So he brought in the Muslim refugees with the hope it will balance, if not increase, the Muslim population in Sabah.

And so we have the situation where the refugees continued staying with the IMM 13 given to them. The IMM 13 - issued through the Immigration Act - gives the holder the right to stay and the right to work. For the last almost 40 years, Sabah’s refugee population has increased with its third generation growing up with the hope that there will be integration and citizenship into Malaysian society.

Then, when the PBS came into power, Umno and the BN could not accept this reality of a party led by Joseph Pairin Kitingan taking control of Sabah. Umno, under Dr Mahathir Mohamad, planned Project M where thousands of refugees were given temporary identity cards with cash to vote for the BN government.

Through this manipulation, Umno, together with Usno, gained control over the state. Project M was a success.

The refugees continued to vote in the next four elections and BN power was sustained and strengthened with PBS joining the coalition. The refugees believed that they had become citizens as they had voted.

Their children were allowed to go to school and Sabah became their new home until 1997 when the policy changed with the economic downturn.

In 2002, the government amended the Immigration Act to increase the penalty on undocumented workers with whipping as part of the punitive sentencing. We then criminalised persons who did not have proper documents.

The massive crackdown in the same year saw thousands deported to Nunukan and Tawi Tawi. Malaysia faced international condemnation for this intense human rights violation and loss of sense of humanity and humanness in dealing with a problem arising from pure political manipulation to sustain a corrupt government.

The BN government since then has had a dual face. There is a pattern that has emerged. Regularly, the government announces a crackdown and conducts arrests and deportation to please and gain the confidence of the citizens.

But when elections come around, they court the refugees and immigrants with citizenship and the right to vote. Refugees and immigrants are the ‘reserve’ for Project M and to sustain the BN power.

The same plan and strategy was used in the last general elections. The BN government is also aware that the economy will collapse without the immigrants and the migrant workers. The plantation sector completely relies on migrant labor and this is the key contributor to the economy.

The service sector like restaurants and retail shops including the markets are able to make profits by giving wages as low as RM200 per month to the migrant worker. Such low wages then pushes the local worker out of a secure job with decent wages.

But the problem that confronts us is that we see the refugees and immigrants as the enemy, when they are the victims. They are continuously in a state of fear of arrest. They continuously buy their freedom out. The refugees and the thousands of stateless children have no other home but Sabah.

We created the problem by sustaining the same corrupt government who continues to abuse and manipulate the immigrants and refugees with impunity. And sadly, we believe that by deporting them we have solved the problem. Is this the just way? Are we not allowing evidence to be deported?

Without knowing the truth in Project M, how can we support this form of crackdown and deportation of refugees and immigrants? Without making the very people who came to power through the use and abuse of refugees and immigrants and corrupt practices, accountable, how can we with clear conscience, support the deportation?

Are we not then supporting a corrupt and unjust government? To realise the truth and to pave the way for a just solution, a royal commission of inquiry must be instituted. This must be our battle cry.

The writer is Tenaganita chairperson.