Citizenship rights changes must comply with MA63: Sabah deputy CM

PARLIAMENT | A veteran Sabah lawmaker today said any proposals under the citizenship amendment bill must comply with Agreement 18 under the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

Jeffrey Kitingan (GRS-Keningau) said this was because the bill touches on citizenship rights, including in Sabah and Sarawak that agreed to form Malaysia.

“Citizenship of Sabah and Sarawak has been agreed upon as contained in Article 10 which is now included in the Constitution through the federal definition in Article 160(2) in December 2021.

“This is enshrined in Article 14 Section 3 through legislation for the people of Sabah and Sarawak on Malaysia Day and other provisions which are read together with the second table.

“This situation should be maintained for Sabah and Sarawak because any amendment regarding citizenship needs the consent of Sabah and Sarawak,” said the Sabah deputy chief minister.

Set up committee

However, commenting further, Jeffrey (above) said if the government insisted on continuing with the citizenship amendment, a special commission or committee for Sabah and Sarawak should be established.

“I suggest a mechanism involving the role of Sabah and Sarawak, such as creating a commission or even a Sabah and Sarawak citizenship committee with a clear standard operating procedure as a reference for granting citizenship to the people of both states.

“The SOP should deal with the inconsistency of the existing MyKad issuance, where some (applications) are given and some are rejected,” he said.

Jeffrey said his recommendation was necessary in light of the Sabah “Project IC” issue which allegedly provided identity cards to nearly 1.5 million illegal immigrants in the state.

“The people of Sabah must be wary, still wary and suspicious of the federal government regarding Sabah citizenship due to bad actions in the past such as the Project IC and denying citizenship to people of Sabah and Sarawak origin through the actions of the National Registration Department,” he said.

“Issuance of identity cards to immigrants was discovered by the Royal Commission of Inquiry on foreign immigrants in Sabah.

“The RCI report states that there were people who were not eligible but registered as voters, on top of migrants found with fake identity cards.

“Therefore, I ask the Madani government to review the identity cards issued in questionable circumstances and take appropriate action against the holders of these questionable identity cards,” he stressed.

Jeffrey further reiterated concerns that portions of the proposed amendments could erode the citizenship rights of the people of Sabah and Sarawak.

This was despite Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail’s reassurance yesterday that the proposed amendments would not affect Orang Asli, Sabah, and Sarawak bumiputera.

Saifuddin also said the government had followed all necessary procedures and obtained consent from heads of state prior to tabling the bill in March.

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