State Reform Party: Gov't covering up 'instant citizens'

The Sabah chapter of the State Reform Party (Star) has brushed aside assertions that police reports on alleged foreigners receiving MyKads in the state were false, instead claiming that concerted steps were taken to keep this covert effort under wraps.

State Reform Party (Star) deputy chairperson Daniel John Jambun claimed that the police headquarter in Bukit Aman had instructed the Sabah police not to pursue such police reports on the matter.

“If Mongolian translator Altantuya Shariibuu’s entry into Malaysia can be deleted from the immigration system... there’s no reason why the police cannot delete all police reports lodged on the issuance of Malaysian identification documents to illegal immigrants and other foreigners in Sabah,” he said in a statement today.

Daniel was referring to former Sabah chief minister Harris Salleh’s statement that police should charge people who made such allegations for lodging false police reports.

“It is a fact that the federal government has been acting above the law in issuing Malaysian identification documents in Sabah.

“The evidence is all around us, Sabahans are not blind. They can differentiate between locals and illegal immigrants,” said Daniel.

This, he speculated, may be the work of rogue elements in the National Registration Department (NRD) in Sabah and Putrajaya.

He added that these illegal immigrants who were allegedly granted the documents would eventually end up on the electoral roll, but this was ignored by the Election Commission (EC).

As such, Daniel said it was essential that Sabah police be allowed to investigate cases of alleged granting of MyKad to illegal immigrants.

“This is all the more important since there’s no sign of the proposed royal commission of inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrant in Sabah. The police need not wait for the RCI,” he said.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had on June 1 announced that the Attorney-General's Chambers had been tasked to determine the term of reference of the RCI which would be set up to look into the issue of illegal immigrant in Sabah.