News taken from Daily Express
Kota Kinabalu: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Sabah warned against a potential reverse take-over if the longstanding illegal immigrant or pendatang tanpa izin (PTI) issue is not resolved permanently by the Federal Government.
Its Deputy Chairperson Christina Liew said Wednesday, the people of Sabah are by now awakened to the fact that Sabah has been taken for granted and problems within the jurisdiction of the Federal Government have not been dealt with seriously and sincerely.
"We must tell the Federal Government uninhibitedly that we have had enough of 'wayang kulit' as far as the PTIs are concerned. If the Federal Government is sincere and serious in resolving our woes, they must have a concrete, effective and sustainable plan, instead of the futile effort of building more detention centres and deportation exercises.
"We need to go to the root of the PTI problem before any reverse take-over happens or else we will be crying over spilt milk," she told reporters.
Liew was commenting on the National Security Council (Sabah) Deputy Director, Major Mohd Rizam Ayob's revelation that 2,000 illegal immigrants are deported monthly but most would be back in Sabah after two weeks.
Describing the repatriation exercises as a total failure, she said such deportation hardly made a dent in the prevailing overwhelming situation.
"So, what difference does it make whether the Government deports them or not. It is a waste of public funds and fails to accomplish the objective."
On the building of more detention centres in Sabah, she said it would not help resolve the decades-old problem.
"If we add the total capacities of detention centres for PTIs, these will house some 8,000 illegals by December this year. Going by this rate when we have more than a million illegals in Sabah, does it mean we need to build more centres to accommodate them?" Liew asked.
Mohd Rizam had said the capacity of illegal immigrant detention facilities in Sabah is to double in December with the opening of two more camps and expansion of an existing one.
Calling for a stringent regulatory system, Liew argued that Sabah cannot be accommodating and feeding such a large number of the transient population (pending deportation) indefinitely and at the expense of the people's welfare.
"As such, we (PKR Sabah) appeal to the Federal Government to also make use of these detention centres as 'transit points' or 'entry points' for future immigrants entering Sabah with proper documents.
"Relevant government departments such as the Immigration, Police, Health, Security and Manpower should be stationed at these entry points for registration of immigrants with documents, health screening and liaison with registered employment agencies.
"Once the arrivals have passed their medical examination and are sponsored by prospective employers, they can then leave the detention centre (together with their employers)," she pointed out.
According to Liew, countries like Hong Kong and Singapore have succeeded in their well-regulated system of handling immigrants by registering and issuing them proper work permits with the co-ordination of relevant authorities.
"There is no reason why the Government cannot do likewise in Sabah, instead of keeping and feeding the immigrants in detention centres.
PTIs who are currently in the State should return to their homeland but those who genuinely want to work here should come back with documents for the government to process their work passes."
She also called on the Federal Government to review the levy policy on immigrants and their employers so that work passes are issued at a minimum cost.
"Employers are reluctant to hire them because of the high cost of levy, which is why many of the immigrants with documents end up as illegals.
But when they are issued with work passes, they can be regulated and controlled, instead of being harassed or hunted down by the authorities.
The Government must consider imposing a lesser levy."
Previously, it cost more than RM1,600 to get a work pass for a maid but the fees have now escalated to about RM3,000. Similarly, an employer in the construction industry or plantation sector has to fork out several thousand ringgit just to guarantee one immigrant. Like Indonesia, Liew said, the Philippines Government must open a consulate or trade office in Sabah to assist its nationals in the documentation process, especially with the street children.
According to Mohd Rizam, if the Philippines' Government does not recognise the Filipinos (in Sabah) as their own nationals, the inmates would have to stay in the detention centre until their case is resolved.