Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) president Joseph Pairin Kitingan ( below ) wants enforcement agencies to step up tackling of the illegal immigrants problem in Sabah, calling for them to be flushed out by 2012.

So far, he doesn’t see any signs that the federal government is acting on his call, which he first made during the PBS assembly late last year.

bn supreme council mt meeting sapp sabah issue 190608 pairin kitingan He asked for National Key Result Areas (NKRA) and Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to be adopted in tackling the problem as a sign of commitment.

Illegal immigrants reportedly form the bulk of the 1.7 million foreigners - curiously a Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) estimate - in the state.

“There is no onus at present on the enforcement agencies to do what they can to thwart the illegal immigrants who are swamping the state,” noted Pairin. “There must be a measurable yardstick by which they can be held accountable.”

The Sabah deputy chief minister was giving a pre-Tadau Ka’amatan (Harvest Festival) speech where he presented his take on the Home Ministry’s declaration of a 2011 deadline to resolve the backlog of late registration birth certificates in Sabah and Sarawak.

Sabahans watching closely

Earlier, a group of civil servants had met with Pairin at his Infrastructure Development Ministry and brainstormed as part of a Special Laboratory on the Management of Foreigners in the State.

illegal immigrants roundup 010305 patiently waiting The Special Lab – marathon meetings, discussions, workshops, field work - will go on for a month and involves participants taking leave and being away from home and office for the period.

The Lab participants agreed with Pairin that the government should apply the same commitment and approach to the illegal immigration menace as they did the birth certificates issue.

He pointed out that poverty eradication, among other areas, was also subject to the NKRA and KPI approach which was mooted by the New Economic Model unveiled recently by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

The PBS president called on the participants to be forthcoming in contributing their ideas or solutions during their month-long retreat.

“Sabahans are watching closely the arrest, prosecution and deportation of illegal immigrants in Peninsular Malaysia. They are wondering why the same thing isn’t being done in Sabah.”

Likewise, stemming illegal immigration was a key demand of the people of Sabah and must be resolved within a reasonable time frame after having been ignored for so long, he added.

Sabah is reputed to be the poorest state in Malaysia, and Sarawak follows close.

No confidence in government

The people, Pairin warned, were close to losing confidence in the government of the day on the question of illegal immigration, among other pressing matters.

NONE Drawing on an analogy, the increasingly embattled PBS leader likened the security of the state to that of protecting the environment.

“If one were to allow the destruction of the environment to go on, one would also destroy the ecosystem,” said Pairin. “Similarly, if the security of the state is allowed to deteriorate, the future existence of the people would also be at risk.”

He’s particularly worried that illegal immigrants are in the state with their families and extended families and may never leave. The Immigration Department does not even accord the privilege to legal foreign workers to bring in their families.

 

Pairin, resuming the theme, said that PBS wants to see the NKRA and KPI of every enforcement agency made public as soon as possible. These must include heavy fines for employers who harbour illegal immigrants, especially those who want cheap labour, he added.

“Action must also be taken against employers who tried to avoid paying levies for foreign labour.

Performance now?

“Those responsible for the border security (and) coastlines, such as the navy, marine police and others must do their job,” stressed Pairin. “Those responsible for enforcement on land, such as the police, Immigration, Labour, National Registration Department and local authorities must also discharge their duties properly as expected of them.”

NONE He advocated the use of biometric identification cards as a means to eradicate bogus Malaysian personal documents. Another proposal was the widespread distribution of MyKad readers to all key point areas in the state to detect and weed out bogus MyKad holders.  

He expressed confidence that if all enforcement agencies worked together and their performance could be held up to public scrutiny, “half the battle against illegal immigration can be won”.

PBS, Pairin hastened to add, isn’t against foreigners seeking their livelihood in the state “but there are limits to our tolerance levels”.

“They must come in through the front door and not through the old smugglers’ routes as illegal immigrants. Knock on the front door of the house and show respect to the owner before entering,” advised Pairin. “Foreigners looking for work in Sabah must respect the customs and cultures of the state if they want to be treated as guests.”

Pairin is silent on what will happen if the federal government does not comply with the 2012 deadline arbitrarily imposed by his party. However, 2012 is close to a general election year and the deadline may come back to haunt the ruling BN coalition.