The illegal immigrant issue in Sabah is not easily resolved as it requires the cooperation of their countries of origin, said Chief Minister Musa Aman.

He said thus it was becoming of certain quarters to accuse the state government of not being serious in dealing with the issue, especially in deporting illegal immigrants.

"We simply cannot put them on the boats and shoo them off without the agreement of the Philippine or Indonesian government.

"I want to explain here that we do not have any problem with Indonesia as they have a consulate here and are willing to cooperate with us, but not in the case of the Philippine government," he told reporters after chairing the state cabinet meeting in Kota Kinabalu today.

He said until now there was no feedback on the part of the Philippine government over an offer to set up its consulate in the state.

He said the government was spending millions of ringgit to deport illegal immigrants and at the same time ensure that their rights were protected to avoid confrontation with their home countries.

"We have to accept the fact that we need workers in Sabah. For workers from the strife-torn southern Philippines, off course they feel comfortable to be here although they entered the state legally (sic)," he added

Musa expressed his regret with certain BN component parties for blaming other members of the coalition over problems faced by Sabah.

"I ask my friends in the BN, when making statements we must be equally responsible, not as if Umno does not care as we are the BN government, not Umno government," he said.

- Bernama