KOTA KINABALU: Upko Youth chief Felix Joseph Saang has urged the Federal Government to resolve the illegal immigrants issue that has been occurring in the country for far too long.
The youth wing questioned why the Rohingya refugee issue seemed to draw more attention than the longstanding illegal immigrants issue, which is a problem that has gotten more severe over the years.
“During this movement control order (MCO) period, I was really intrigued by and I fully supported the claim made by the Pertubuhan Pembela-Pembela Islam (Pembela), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) from the Peninsular.
“This NGO wants the Federal Government to issue new identification cards as a measure to curb the syndicate of selling MyKads, an issue that has increased the number of illegal immigrants in the country.
“It is obvious that Sabah had suffered the most in this tragedy,” said Felix.
He explained that Upko Youth did not intend to touch on the Rohingya refugee issue for political gain but the illegal immigrants issue which is currently at hand right now should not be neglected.
Felix, who spoke after chairing the Upko Youth Exco videoconference meeting, pointed out that the party had been fighting the issue for far too long.
“In fact, Upko was one of the first political parties in Sabah to suggest that the identification cards should be recalled, reissued or renewed.
“When Upko was in the Barisan Nasional (BN) government, the latter had threatened us to leave the coalition due to our eagerness and bravery in resolving the issue.
“We hope that the political parties in Sabah who are now with the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government would do more than that – to be braver, stricter and more vocal in this issue,” said Felix.
“As for Upko, we will definitely continue to fight and work as hard as we can on this critical issue. We will never ever stop,” he added.
Felix is confident that the State Government is very committed in this issue and that it wants to find the best solution.
He said that the people of Sabah should understand that the power to solve the illegal immigrants problem in a concrete and stricter manner lies on the Federal Government.
“The National Registry Department (JPN) and the National Security Council (MKN) are both under the Federal Government. Identification cards can only be issued out by JPN.
“The Sabah State Government has no authority over this issue and therefore it cannot issue identification cards or any other form of citizenship documents.
“Only the Federal Government has the power to do so, through departments such as the National Registration Department (JPN) and the Malaysia Immigration Department (JIM),” he said.
Thus, Upko Youth hopes that the Federal Government would implement the suggestion to revoke and renew the identification cards in the country.
Separately, he urged all Sabahans to abide by the rules set under the MCO.
He expressed his gratitude to all the frontliners, namely doctors, nurses, medical officials, police, army, Rela, firefighters, district offices and councils, UPPM personnel, media members and all those who have been involved in the fight against Covid-19, for their dedication and sacrifice./http://beritasabah.com
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