Amnesty plan: Why now Hisham?
“There’s always a tendency that many thousand more illegal immigrants will make use of the amnesty exercise to come into Sabah openly without fear,” he said.
By Queville To, FMT
KOTA KINABALU: The Federal government is treading on shaky ground with its plan to grant amnesty and legalise the two million illegal immigrants in the country, a Sabah politician has cautioned.
Kota Kinabalu MP Hiew King Cheu expressed both shock and confusion over the statement by Home Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein on Monday, that the government would embark on a comprehensive programme to legalise illegal immigrants in the country, including those in Sabah.
The programme is expected to start next month.
Hishammuddin said the programme is not aimed at making the illegal immigrants Malaysian citizens but to allow them to live and work legally in Malaysia.
He added that the move would also stop flourishing drugs trade and human trafficking as well as money laundering and terrorist activities in Malaysia.
Hiew also questioned the timing of the amnesty programme by the Barisan Nasional (BN) government and asked what guarantees would be provided to ensure that those granted permits to stay would not be manipulated during elections.
“Are they going to put in more illegal foreigners to make them Sabahans and the ‘New Bumiputras’ just for the sake of using them to vote for them?” he asked.
He said the government needs to come up with a better plan to deal with the problem, citing that such a problem does not exist in neighbouring Sarawak and Brunei.
“May be this is done purposely to allow them to come into Sabah under a specific order?”
Ending exploitation
He warned that such a move might “open the flood gates” causing the influx of more illegal immigrants into the country and to Sabah in particular.
